Son of Unicron
by Dragonlver22
Summary: What if the dark energon never left Rafael's body but instead fused with him? When Megatron discovers this, he kidnaps Raf and plans to use him to get to the Autobots. Yet, things don't go as planned and Raf discovers a different side of not only Megatron, but the other Decepticons as well. Split between factions, which will he choose? (Possible Father/Son between Megatron & Raf)
1. Chapter 1

**(A/N)** **Sooo... yeah, here's yet _another_ story that kinda just erupted from my strange mind. There are a lot of stories about Jack, Miko, or all three of them together, but not just about Raf. Besides the One-shots, I mean. So here it is!**

 **I don't know why you think I own Transformers Prime or any of its characters. I wish though.**

* * *

Megatron felt a tug at his spark and his neutral expression turned into a frown. This was beginning to annoy him now. The sensation had been occurring ever since the Unicron incident. At first, the warlord had merely shrugged off the feeling as aftershocks from the sudden surge of dark energon, but the 'rising darkness' happened over two human months ago. So what was the dark energon in his spark trying to tell him?

"Soundwave," Megatron called and the Communications Officer turned to face his master. "Oversee the ship's operations. There is something I must attend to." The warlord informed as he walked off, already knowing that his most loyal follower would obey without a word, as he always had.

It did not take long for Megatron to reach the flight deck, where he transformed and took to the skies, letting the dark energon in his spark guide him to this mysterious presence.

* * *

The Decepticon warlord flew for hours, following the nuisance of a tug in his spark. At one point, it 'told' him to go down, and when he did he found himself in what the humans referred to as a 'desert'. While it was currently late at night, the light of the moon shone upon the barren land and revealed a small human town. Why was the dark energon leading him here?

His interest peeked, Megatron flew over the grouping of settlements, scouting it for anything or anyone recognizable. Yet, the tug in his spark was now becoming more persistent and drew him towards a specific human house. Frustrated with the bothersome urge, he transformed and landed on the outskirts of the town, careful to be as silent as was possible with his large build.

The warlord walked quietly through the humans' streets, being mindful to not set off any of the primitive modes of transport that lined its sides. He turned around a corner of a two-story house before swiftly withdrawing and hiding behind it. He then slowly moved his helm around the corner until his optics were able to catch sight of a familiar yellow and black car, or rather, an Autobot scout.

Megatron narrowed his crimson optics. The little scout was very close to the dark energon presence, yet, he was making no move to investigate it. The warlord did not see any of the other Autobots in his quick scanning of the immediate area, or at least not any out in the open, so it was likely that the scout was alone as well. And given the number of human civilians in the area, it would be foolish to assume that the Autobots had set a trap for him. Thus, the question of the scout's purpose here floated in the silver mech's processor.

Yet despite the unknown factors, the warlord had flown all this distance, and with his goal so near, he would not let some Autobot youngling stand in the way.

* * *

Today had been great for Bumblebee. It was a Saturday, which meant that his best friend, Raf, had no school and had already finished his homework. Plus, there had been little Decepticon activity. All of this lead to a day where the two young friends had the entire morning and noon to themselves. When the memories of the day resurfaced in his processor, Bumblebee smiled. Or at least, he would have had he not been in his alt. mode, guarding Rafael.

The young scout tilted his mirrors so that he could see his human charge sleeping soundly through the open window. His glasses on his bedside table, his chest rising and falling with his steady breaths, and the innocent smile on his face as he dreamed.

Bumblebee loved moments like these. They were rare moments when the young mech could live in the peacefulness of this world and not think of the war right outside. The young mech was of the last generation to be sparked from the Well, and, as a result, had only known war. So when he met Rafael, it was like he had regained some of his lost youth.

The scout's thoughts were cut off when he heard the humming of a blaster. He shifted his mirrors and just barely caught sight of a purple blast before it hit him and sent him flying down the street. Bumblebee transformed mid-air before rolling on the ground. Shaking his helm clear, he struggled to push himself up. Bumblebee lifted his gaze and his optics widened in shock when he saw Megatron standing where he just was, his cannon still smoking from the blast.

The scout tried to comm. the Autobot base, but he was met with only static. Seeing his panicked expression, Megatron chuckled darkly.

"No one will be coming to your rescue this time, little scout." The warlord grinned before the tug in his spark distracted him. He turned towards a human dwelling and knelt down to look inside. He couldn't believe it. This whole time, the dark energon in his spark was leading him towards a _human_. A sparkling at that.

"Bumblebee?" The being's small voice asked. "Is that you?" The tiny human, who Megatron remembered as 'Rafael', turned to pick up his glasses and place them over his eyes. He gasped in shock when he noticed blood red optics staring back at him. The warlord chuckled lowly once more.

"Not quite, human." He said before reaching through the bedroom window and grabbing Rafael.

"Bumblebee!" Raf called, struggling in the strong, yet surprisingly careful, servo of the Decepticon Leader.

"Raf!" The young scout beeped before scrambling to stand up and deploying his blasters. He faced the silver mech, who unsheathed his sword and held it dangerously close to the human. "Let him go, Megatron!"

"And what makes you believe I'll listen to you, _scout_? Unless you think you can _take_ him from me?" Megatron grinned when the scout didn't respond. A humming noise interrupted the night air and a green glow bathed the once-dark street as a ground bridge portal opened behind the warlord.

"Bee..." Raf quietly called, fear evident in his wavering voice. The small boy had tears pricking his eyes as he glanced between the threatening blade and the young Autobot. The scout looked worriedly at the boy when their eyes made contact.

"Whatever you want him for, take me instead!" Bumblebee protested, unable to hide the pleading in his broken voice.

"As much as I appreciate your offer, little scout, I'm afraid I'll have to decline," Megatron responded before slowly walking backward through the portal, one optic trained on the young mech so as to not be taken off guard.

"Bee..?" Rafael began once he realized that the Autobot could not fight back or comm for help. "Bee?! Bumblebee?!" Rafael began squirming around more in the warlord's tight grip, freeing an arm as he heard the portal coming closer. "Bumblebee!" He yelled, tears pouring from his eyes as he tried to reach for the scout.

Like a switch had been flipped, Bumblebee shot forward as fast as he could to the portal but it closed before he could reach it, taking the Decepticon warlord and his best friend with it. The scout fell to his pedes, staring off to where the vortex was a moment before. However, Bumblebee was not given long to process the events, as the lights from the nearby houses began to turn on. Humans who had heard the commotion were rising from their slumber to investigate the noise. Regrettably, the Autobot scout transformed and drove off, praying to Primus all the while that his best friend would be alright.


	2. Chapter 2

**(A/N)**

 **Hey, guys! Thanks for the positive reviews last chapter, I'm glad folks have taken an interest in the story. I think I've finally figured out an update story schedule, which is a chapter every other weekend. Technically, if you're following both of my _Transformers Prime_ stories then it will be a chapter every weekend as I will be rotating between the two stories.**

 **Anyway, enjoy the story!**

* * *

Rafael was terrified. Absolutely terrified. As soon as the portal disappeared, so did his chance of getting back home anytime soon. He stared at where it was, not even registering the words being said around him. When he finally did, he looked up at the giant mechs but didn't dare make eye contact with Megatron himself.

"Pardon my inquiry, my Liege, but why have you brought an organic aboard the ship?" Dreadwing asked as he looked down at the boy, whose eyes were red and puffy from crying.

"A question I too wish to find the answers for," Megatron began to walk down the corridors, Dreadwing and Soundwave following close behind. "Soundwave, alert Knockout to meet us in the medical bay." He ordered his Third in Command and almost didn't hear the young human speak. "Speak up when you talk to me, human."

"I..." he sniffed, "... I d-don't k-know where t-the Autobots' bay-base is..." he finished. Megatron would have grinned at the fear evident in his voice, however, making a small, organic child terrified is not a very difficult feat.

"You're a terrible liar, human. Regardless, I will seize that information when I require it." He responded bluntly. "However, for now, there is something else about you which requires my immediate attention."

Rafael looked at the silver mech confused but didn't dare to say anything else. He only continued his sniffling while the First, Second, and Third in Command of the Decepticon army continued their way to the medical wing. When they arrived, the doors slid open to reveal a bright red yet small Decepticon standing inside.

"What will be the occasion today, milord?" He asked nonchalantly. The Decepticon warlord looked down at the human he held in his servos.

"I want you to perform an energon reading on this human." The other mechs in the room looked at him confused.

"Uh... I mean no disrespect, Lord Megatron, but..." Knockout paused. "Erm... it's a human."

"I am fully aware of that, Knockout. However, I sense the presence of dark energon within it and I intend to know why."

"Of course, Lord Megatron." Knockout responded before being handed the human. He plopped Rafael down on the large medical berth, or at least large to a human. For a cybertronian, it was rather small.

Rafael didn't dare run away with so many dangerous mechs in the room. So he could only gulp down his fear and watch Knockout as he activated the scanner. Rafael then turned his head to watch as a ray of light, similar to Ratchet's own scanner, started heading towards him. He wanted to run but he knew he would anger Megatron by doing that. A shiver went down his spine as the beam harmlessly passed over him.

"What?" Knockout said, staring at the monitor in front of him. "This can't be right..." he mumbled.

"What is it, doctor?" Megatron asked.

"Well, Lord Megatron, it seems that you were correct." Rafael noticed that Dreadwing's shocked expression matched his own while Megatron's gaze swiftly glanced over the boy. Soundwave... well... Rafael couldn't really tell what the creepy con's reaction was. "While energon, especially _dark_ energon, should be fatal to humans, it seems that his blood and the dark energon are coexisting in his body without any difficulties."

They all looked down at Rafael, who was no longer crying but seemed to be on the brink of a panic attack.

"How is this possible?" Dreadwing asked.

Knockout subtly shrugged. "My guess is as good as yours. There's no sign of dark energon being injected into his system nor is there evidence of him consuming it. _Plus_ I doubt that the Autobots would let humans anywhere _near_ the substance."

Megatron looked down at Raf. "So indulge us, _human_." The boy flinched when the warlord spoke to him. "How did you obtain dark energon in your systems?"

Rafael was silent for a moment, trying to calm himself so he could answer. "T-the only thing I can think of is w-when you... sh-shot me..." Raf nearly broke down crying again but tried to remain strong like the others would want him to. He desperately wanted his friends. He wanted Bee to go racing with him, he wanted Miko to make jokes and annoy Ratchet, he wanted Jack to comfort him and he wanted Optimus to smile at him and tell him everything was going to be alright.

But no. Instead, he has four of the most dangerous Decepticons standing around him, probably deciding how to kill him off. Actually, Raf just realized that he didn't really know what they were deciding because he accidentally spaced out.

"What?!" Knockout suddenly shouted.

"Is there a problem, Knockout?" Megatron asked in a warning tone.

"I-well- _no_ Lord Megatron, but why not have one of the vehicons look after it?" Knockout nervously asked.

Megatron turned away to walk out of the room. "The vehicons are incapable of watching a human, and out of all my officers, you seem to have the most 'free time'." The warlord glanced over his shoulder, glaring at the medic. "Unless you have something more _important_ to do?"

Knockout hesitated. "No, Lord Megatron."

"Good." And with that, the Decepticon leader and his top two lieutenants walked out of the room.

Knockout glanced awkwardly down at the human. With the shock fully out of his system, and Megatron no longer in the room, Rafael collapsed to the floor, crying once again. Knockout let out a groan.

"Oh suck it up, will you?" He snapped, turning to the monitors. "What are you, _five_?"

Rafael didn't even register the insult and just continued to cry. Knockout let out another groan and just continued looking over the medical reports.

The flamboyant medic didn't know how much time passed, but at one point he realized that he couldn't hear the human crying anymore. He looked over at the berth and found the human curled up on its side, fast asleep. Knockout remembered seeing something like this at the drive-in theaters and realized that the human must have cried itself to sleep.

The medic rolled his optics and returned to his work.

* * *

"Prime!" Agent Fowler yelled as he stormed into the Control room of the Autobot base and gripped the railings. "Do you want to explain to me why there are about a dozen reports about -"

"Now is really not the time, Agent Fowler," Optimus Prime said, his voice stern and holding a warning.

"I don't care if it's Nap Time! The Pentagon is -"

"Frag the Pentagon!" Fowler was abruptly cut off by a feminine yell. He looked over to the 'Human Area' and finally noticed that he was not the only human here.

"What are you all doing here so late? What's going on? And where's Rafael?" That last question caused Bumblebee to punch the wall and let out a series of beeps and whirs.

"Why don't you put two-and-two together!" Miko yelled at him, her eyes were blood-shot, puffy, and stained with tears. Fowler looked between the faces of all those present in the room, which was all of Team Prime, Jack, June, and Miko. Fowler did exactly as Miko told him and his eyes widened in shock.

" _How_." It was more of an order than an actual question. "How did this happen?" He asked, his fist tightening further around the railings. His expression morphed into anger.

"According to Bumblebee, Megatron attacked without warning and captured Rafael. With no way to contact us or retrieve Rafael, Megatron was able to leave without resistance." Optimus informed. "He has not yet made any demands of trade, but until we are able to retrieve Rafael, I believe it would be best to relocate his family as soon as possible."

Miko stood up abruptly from her spot on the couch. "What about Raf?!"

"Until Megatron announces his demands -" Optimus began but was cut off when Jack interrupted.

"Optimus, while I'd normally trust your judgment, this is _Raf_ we're talking about." The boy placed a hand on Miko's shoulder. "He's only _twelve_ , thirteen almost. I don't think we can afford to _wait_ for Megatron to contact us. The longer we wait, the higher the chance of the Decepticons... hurting him."

The Prime thought over the boy's words before looking up at the faces of all the humans. They all silently urged him to try. "Very well." Optimus walked over to the main controls and sent out a transmission to the _Nemesis_. The others all gathered around the console as they waited for what felt like hours.

Finally, the transmission was accepted.

* * *

"My Liege, what are we to do with the boy?" Dreadwing asked when they reached the control room.

"The dark energon in my spark reacts to the boy as if he was a terrorcon. This leads me to wonder if I can control him through similar means. If that is the case, then we'll be able to use the human as a powerful tool against the Autobots." Megatron informed as he stood at his usual position in the control room. A ping sounded through the room. "Ahh... speaking of the Autobots..." He accepted the video transmission and Optimus Prime appeared on the monitor. "Optimus," He began with sarcastic joy, "to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"You know why we called, _Buckethead_!" A female voice shouted off screen, whom Megatron recalled belonging to the human femme who failed to threaten him.

"Miko!" Bulkhead shouted from the background.

"Give us Raf back!" The girl screamed, finally coming into the warlord's view. Hm, he could have sworn she was taller last he remembered her. Although, he didn't really pay any attention to the humans when he was in their base, except for the eldest boy of course. _The one who took Orion from him._

Megatron quickly dismissed the last thought.

"Bulkhead," Optimus started, "please remove Miko from the room until I can find out what Megatron desires in exchange."

Said warlord chuckled darkly. "And what makes you think that I wish to negotiate his release?" Optimus narrowed his optics at the screen and Bulkhead paused in his movement to grab the angered girl.

"What are you inferring, Megatron?"

"Make no mistake, Optimus Prime, I have no plans to kill the human youngling. We may be Decepticons, but we are not monsters." The warlord grinned, knowing he had both confused and agitated the Prime.

"Then what is it you want with Rafael?" Optimus demanded, his tone becoming angered. The warlord held his grin before abruptly ending the transmission.


	3. Chapter 3

**(A/N)**

 **Wow! I almost went over the deadline. Sorry about that tiny delay, I've been a little sick the past week and school has been annoying. Anyway, here's the chapter.**

* * *

 **Responses:**

BMillsWrites \- **(** **I felt like I should address your comment here in case others wonder the same thing. Hope you don't mind.) Now while I can see where you're coming from, I'm gonna have to disagree with you. The reason why I had Rafael crying so much was that:**

 **(1.) Rafael is only 12, almost 13, so I think he would be a _little_ traumatized from the fact that all in the span of a few minutes, he was taken from his family, threatened with a giant blade from a giant 'Boogey Man', and watched as his best friend was hurt and couldn't do anything to save him. **

**(2.) When Rafael first faced Megatron in the Autobot base, he was mostly angry at the warlord and wasn't really thinking clearly as his emotions were getting the better of him. Now, Rafael has long since gotten over that immediate anger and so the event is not fresh in his mind.**

 **(3.) Also when Raf yelled at Megatron, the kid knew that the warlord couldn't hurt him since all the Autobots had their weapons aimed at Megatron, ready to fire. So when Rafael was first brought to the Medbay, he couldn't help but be terrified since he was surrounded by all four commanding Decepticon officers with no Autobots next to him. In fact, he has none of his family or friends with him, just who he knows as the most dangerous Decepticons.**

 **I hope this clears things up for why he acted the way he did, but don't worry, I'm not going to have him stay as a cry-baby throughout the whole story.**

* * *

Rafael woke up with an aching pain in his side. He tried to reach for his glasses on his bedside table, however, he couldn't feel them. Wait, was his bedside table always made out of metal? Rafael shot upright from his sleeping position, his hands feeling the cold surface beneath him. Nevermind the bedside table, since when was his _bed_ made out of metal?

The memories from yesterday hit him like a train, which caused him to frantically reach around for his glasses only to find empty space.

"Finally, you're awake." He heard a regrettably familiar voice call from his left. He turned towards the red, blurry blob that was Knockout. "After I scanned you a second time, I found that your eyes seem to be weaker than the average human. Is that why you wear glasses?" Raf nodded at the blurry figure. "But I thought that smart humans wear glasses because showed they were smart."

"N-not necessarily. That's just a stereotype that movies created. Just because you wear glasses doesn't mean that you're really smart, or vice-versa." He quickly responded while fumbling his hands nervously.

"And you?"

"I'm extremely near-sighted, s-so without my glasses, anything that's more than a few feet away from me is blurry," Raf informed the medic.

"Well, that's a problem." Knockout muttered. He then moved over to the monitors. "In the meantime, I need to inform Megatron that you're finally awake."

Rafael was silent for a moment. "H-how long was I asleep for?" The boy heard the tapping of metal digits on a monitor keyboard.

"Eh... Six hours," He moved over to a vehicon in stasis on a different berth. Rafael shifted uncomfortably.

"Um..." He began quietly. "C-can I have my glasses back... please?"

Knockout stopped what he was doing and realized he still hadn't given the child his only ability to see. "Oh, right." Knockout awkwardly walked back over to the human and placed the glasses in front of him. "Why can't your species just use micro technology to fix your eyes. I mean, your technology may be primitive, but I think even you squishies can come up with _something_ like that."

Rafael found the glasses and used his pajama sleeve to quickly wipe the lenses, before placing them over his eyes. He didn't respond to the medic, not because he didn't know the answer, he just didn't think that arguing with a Decepticon was the best option in his position. Rafael watched as Knockout began searching around the room, looking for something.

"U-um... what are you doing?" He hesitantly asked, not sure of where the boundaries for how many questions he could ask was.

"If you must know, I'm looking for a container to put you in. I can't handle having a filthy organic contaminating my medical berths any longer." The medic shivered in disgust. He moved around some objects on some shelves until... "Aha!" He pulled out a glass cylinder with a lid at the top. Knowing that a carbon-based lifeform requires oxygen, he drilled multiple small holes into the metal lid. He brought the container over to the human and scooped him up inside before sealing the lid and putting him on a work table.

Rafael just watched as Knockout walked back over to his patients before the boy slumped against the glass walls of his prison. He brought his legs up to his chest and wrapped his arms around his knees.

The boy recalled every detail that led to his current predicament and he desperately wanted to cry.

No tears found their way down his face.

* * *

It had been some time after the call from the Autobots and Megatron was very pleased with how they reacted. Perhaps he should kidnap the other children sometime in the future, as the Autobots seem rather attached to them. _Yes,_ he thought, _they would make the perfect bargaining tools._ However, he didn't plan on playing that card just yet. Perhaps when a better opportunity presents itself. Megatron will patiently wait for it.

The sound of soft pedesteps was, barely, heard behind his back and he knew of only one mech who could be so quiet. "What is it, Soundwave?" He asked without turning to face the mech. When he heard a ping come from the mech, he turned around to find a photo of the human boy on his visor. "What about the human?"

Soundwave then pulled up a recording from almost a year ago. It showed Raf at a computer desk with Jack and the other human, Miko, behind him.

 _"They're locking back onto Cybertron!"_ Rafael informed the other two. _"I'll just have to undo that again..."_ He began typing away at the computer and Soundwave pulled up another video next to it showing the video feed of a camera outside, watching the satellites. Megatron saw how after only a few seconds, the satellites tilted downwards. After this happened, one of Soundwave's claw-cables snuck in through the door and begun attacking the children. He noted how Rafael took something from the computer and leaped off to the side right before the claw-cable could hit him.

"This was the being who delayed our plans?" Soundwave nodded in response. Megatron was shocked, to say the least. Very few mechs could even come _close_ to out hacking his most trusted lieutenant, and yet this organic _child_ had done it with surprising ease. He now knew that he could not allow the human to return to the Autobots. He looked away from Soundwave in deep thought. "It seems that this human keeps surprising me. " He muttered to himself. At this point, he wouldn't be surprised if he found out that the Autobots had taught the boy Cybertronian Dialect. Even if they didn't, he still wanted the boy nowhere near any computer consoles and to be under Soundwave's constant watch.

He paused when he realized the faults in that order. He needed Soundwave's main focus to continue on decoding the database, and while he was completely capable of adding yet another job to his multitasking list, Megatron knew that having to watch the human would only further delay the decoding process.

Megatron then thought about what other mechs would be appropriate for the task. The warlord knew that as his Second in Command, Dreadwing wouldn't be available either for he had much more important matters to attend to than watching an organic. Megatron next thought of Knockout. He knew that the medic had a larger distaste for humans ever since that incident with his assistant, Breakdown. Not to mention that after the mech's offlining, not that long ago, Knockout was now the only mech on the ship with actual medical expertise, excluding the Medical Drones. That thought then led him to think of assigning a vehicon to watch the human child, however, the drones didn't have much of a processor and if they somehow lost the human, Megatron doubted that they could find the boy again.

Megatron's thoughts were cut off by the sound of an incoming status report from Knockout, which told him that the boy was awake. While normally Megatron wouldn't wait for a test subject, a _human_ no less, to be fully rested, it was required for the boy to be at full health while he went through the tests, to make them as accurate as possible.

Megatron began to make his way toward the medical wing of his warship, leaving Soundwave to continue his task. He walked through the halls, occasionally passing vehicons who would move out of his way or bow in his presence. He paid them no mind as he continued his route.

The warlord soon reached the medbay and noticed his Commanding Medical Officer working on a rather banged-up eradicon patient. When the red bot had heard the opening of his doors, he twisted his body to find the Lord of the Decepticons standing in the doorway.

"Where is the human?" He demanded.

"In the glass container beside the computer console, my Lord. I had to move him to make room for my patients." He informed as he cleaned his servos of energon after making sure his work could be stopped at a safe place.

Megatron walked over to where the small human was being contained, who had been watching the warlord since he entered the room. He studied the boy, taking note of the increase in heart rate. "Have you run any other scans on him?" He asked the medic, not once taking his optics off of the boy.

"Indeed," The red mech replied and finally walked over to Megatron, now that his servos were clean. He then accessed the computer terminal and pulled up the results of his own scans and the medical reports of human doctors, that he gained from hacking their systems. A mech didn't need to be the same level as Soundwave when it came to hacking such primitive technology. "The human is rather healthy and has no physical problems except that for his weak eyes." The medic looked at Megatron as he gave him his report. "Without outside interference, the fleshy sees everything as blurry objects."

Megatron mused over the information. "Anything else?"

"Yes, actually," Knockout blurted. "According to his species' medical reports, he should be close to beginning the stage of a human's life where he will mature into an adult." Neither mech took notice of Rafael shifting uncomfortably. "His brain, or processor if you will, also seems to show signs of him having a higher intellect level than others at his age. He is a Gifted Child, according to the fleshies at least."

"We'll see," The warlord muttered. "Anything regarding the dark energon?"

"It hasn't changed, really. It just moves around in the fleshy's systems like it's been there his whole life."

Megatron turned back to the silent human in the container. "Then let us see what _will_ change it, hmm?" He questioned the human with a sneer on his faceplates.

Rafael swallowed the lump forming in his throat.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed the chapter! I know it's not _super_ interesting but it was required as a setup for future chapters.**

 **See ya later!**


	4. Chapter 4

**(A/N)**

 **Hey guys, sorry that this came a little late but hey, I stuck to my schedule a lot longer than I thought I was, so I'm proud of myself. Anyway, I made this one a little longer for ya'll. Please tell me what you think. I hope that this chapter isn't too much of a "Here! Look! Information! Drink it in!" kind of thing, as in I hope that the info isn't shoved in your faces. If so, I apologize.**

* * *

Knockout had suggested moving to a more secluded room where he could explain his theories and perform the tests without interruptions. The two mechs and the small human moved to a different part of the Medbay, where the curious audio receptors of the vehicons couldn't pry. Rafael noticed how, like all the other rooms he's seen on the Nemesis, it consisted of dark and depressing colors. In the room, there were two computer terminals that were positioned on either side of the two large medical berths, while a third terminal laid between said berths. On the wall, a familiar black cord with purple highlights was looped on a hook. It was the cord used for a cortical psychic patch.

Rafael's glass container was put down on one of the metal berths. The young human fell over when Knockout had laid his container on its side. The boy had to put his glasses back on before he could stand up again and face his captors, or at least _try_ and face them. Due to his container being a cylindrical shape, he had to focus his balance so he wouldn't roll the container, and him, off the berth.

The container's lid was removed and the human felt the slightest change of more air rushing in. Then, thin metal claws reached inside and quickly grabbed him before he could move away. Rafael squirmed in the cold servo, but Knockout's grip was too tight and thus he gave up quickly.

"Indulge me, Doctor," said the Decepticon Warlord.

"Well," Knockout started as he moved over to the central computer terminal. "To be straightforward with you, I doubt you'll be able to control his body like you could a terrorcon." Rafael noticed how the medic spoke to Megatron without fear. The boy presumed it was because he was the only other medic beside Ratchet on Earth.

Rafael paused when he recalled what Knockout had said instead of _how_ he had said it. _'Control my body?'_ He didn't like the sound of that.

"But..." Knockout continued. "Due to the fact that you both have dark energon running through you, there is a chance you'll be able to do _something,_ I'm just not sure what exactly." He paused, shrugged, and then said nonchalantly:"That or he could die."

"He is an interesting specimen, it would be a shame if he perished." Megatron let a toothy grin occupy his faceplates for a moment. The warlord then looked down at the young human, who was now standing on the berth. Shortly after, the Decepticon insignia that rested above his spark began to pulse with a subtle purple hue. His optics too glowed a shade of purple.

At first, nothing happened, but then Rafael started to feel a little warm. In fact, it was like his body-temperature was heating up. Any fear he felt before was now pushed to the back of his mind as he clasped his head with one hand, swaying slightly in his stance. His head was reeling and he began sweating tremendously.

Knockout blinked with interest as he watched the organic's actions.

However, Rafael was blind to all outside presences. He was too focused on the massive headache that hit him. He reached up with his other hand and now both were gripping the side of his head. Whimpers of pain began to escape him before they turned into moans and then howls of anguish. His heart began aching as well and he collapsed to his knees. The pain was so much and his body felt like it was going to burn from the inside-out, yet he couldn't pass out. It was as if there was something keeping his body from doing so; influencing it not to give into its natural functions.

Knockout shifted a little nervously as he listened to the pained sounds the young organic made. "Um... Lord Megatron, perhaps you should -"

"No," He interrupted, not wavering in his concentration. He was so close, he could feel it. He wasn't sure what he would accomplish by doing this, but he knew that he was about to achieve something useful if he continued for just a little longer. "Not yet."

Megatron wasn't deaf though, he could hear and see the youngling's pain. Yet, at the same time, he could almost feel it as well. He felt his spark beginning to ache and his focus was wavering. _'Not yet.'_ He told himself, repeating it as he forced himself to continue, despite the voice in his helm telling him to stop before the pain became too great.

The warlord's patience was rewarded when suddenly the human stopped screaming and all the pain ceased abruptly. The human panted before collapsing on his side. His eyes were still open but drooped heavily from exhaustion. He stared blankly at the two mechs, not registering their words as the only sound he heard was the loud ringing in his ears.

"My Lord?" The medic asked as he began scanning the silver frame.

Megatron let out a vent but never took his optics off the human, who lay sideways on the berth, his glasses fallen off and his recharge clothing drenched in his own sweat. "I believe that the subject requires a scan more than I do, Knockout."

The medic blinked before obeying and running a medical scan over the exhausted body. "Well, his blood pressure seems to be much higher than normal... same thing with his body temperature." He hummed over the other results. "Although, it seems that his body is in immediate need of nutrients and hydration. It seems we-er- _I_ forgot to feed him." He awkwardly looked back at his master. Maybe he should have scolded himself for not taking proper care of a patient, but this 'patient' was only just a test subject, a disgusting organic test subject.

"Make sure that the subject receives his required needs. It would be most unfortunate to have gone through all this trouble," Megatron glanced at the human, "only for him to die after the first test."

The medic stared at his master in disbelief. "I'm not only _watching_ him but I also have to take _care_ of him?"

The warlord growled in response. "You know the most about the human culture so I am making him your _full_ responsibility. Your charge, if you will." Megatron left without giving Knockout a chance to object.

* * *

Hours later, the small form that laid on a medical table moved and groaned.

"... Wha... what happened?" Rafael asked groggily, placing the glasses on his face. Knockout, who was on a nearby monitor, huffed before abruptly snatching up the human boy. Said boy was desperately trying not to throw up the previous night's dinner. The thought of food made the child's stomach grumble, which did not go unnoticed by the red sports car carrying him. "Um... Where are you taking me?"

"Well according to Lord Megatron, I'm now your babysitter." He responded dryly. "I would have gone to get your requirements without you but _apparently_ not everything that's shown in movies is true. So now I have to take you with me." He finally stopped in a room with five vehicons inside; three at the control panels and two next to what looked like a Groundbridge. Knockout told them to open the Groundbridge near a human town that was, much to Raf's disappointment, very far from Jasper, Nevada.

When they fired it up and the green swirling vortex appeared, Knockout tossed the boy into the air as he transformed. Raf grunted as he hit the backseats of the Aston Martin, the seat belt quickly strapping him in. "Keep your hands and feet to yourself, got it squishy?" He shuttered. "I don't need your _disgusting_ fingerprints all over my interior."

Rafael nodded quickly before the Decepticon medic drove through the portal with one of the vehicons behind him and all three came out on the other side. It was in the evening and Raf noticed how they were under a freeway bridge. Knockout, after making sure no humans saw them, drove out and turned left onto the almost deserted freeway.

"Where are we?" Rafael asked as he looked out the window, careful not to even breathe on it in the likely event of angering Knockout.

Said mech responded: "We're on the outskirts of Concord, New Hampshire." His tires quietly rumbled as they passed over a river. Not five minutes later did Knockout turn off the freeway and started on a straight road.

Rafael watched in silence as more and more houses appeared until they were fully in town. They crossed yet another bridge and soon a _very_ large Fencemart came into view.

Knockout and the vehicon found a couple deserted parking spaces not far from the store's entrance. "Alright squishy, here we are." The Aston Martin announced as he unstrapped Rafael and tilted his rearview mirror to get a better look at his passenger. "Grab as many things as you can and run to either me or the vehicon, got it? Whatever you didn't grab, we'll head to a different store and get."

"W-wait." Raf stammered. "I'm stealing? B-but that's illegal! I can't do that I -"

"I don't care about your organic laws," Knockout interrupted. "If you get caught, we'll just have to... _squish_ a few bugs, simple as that. Now hurry, or Megatron will have my finish for keeping you out for so long." Rafael hesitated before stepping outside the sentient vehicle.

"Oh and one more thing..." The red sports car said, drawing Raf's attention back to him. The human could feel the optics of the bot on him, even if they weren't visible. "Don't even try to contact the Autobots. Soundwave will tell me immediately and we'll be on the Nemesis long before they can even bridge here."

The boy nodded slowly and fearfully before looking back at the bright Fencemart in front of him. Gulping down the lump in his throat, he took the first step forward, then another, and another, and another until he reached the store entrance. Rafael knew that he was currently on camera and that everyone inside, which wasn't many, could see that he was in his pajamas.

Rafael tried to remain calm and casual as he made his way over to the boys clothing department, still, he couldn't help but glance at every camera and person he passed. Once he reached the section, he immediately began to search for what he needed most, as he knew he wouldn't be able to carry much. So he first searched for a T-shirt and pants and then made his way to where they kept the socks, shoes, and undergarments. Raf also saw a school supplies section and grabbed a spacious backpack, stealthily shoving all the stolen clothes inside. After that, he moved to where the sweaters were.

As he pushed hangers aside, looking for the most practical one, he noticed an employee who kept glancing at him. Quickly, Rafael grabbed the sweater with the thickest material and moved on to the bedding section.

Raf searched first for the warmest blanket but instead saw one that looked very similar to the one he had back at home. The boy bit back the tears that threatened to fall before turning away. He quickly found a suitable blanket just as he once again noticed the same employee behind him. Raf knew that the man was beginning to suspect him of stealing, and he also knew that he didn't have time to grab a pillow.

Rafael suddenly took off towards the entrance, backpack over the shoulder and blanket flying out behind him. The boy knew that he couldn't outrun the full-grown man, but he tried anyway, not wanting to risk him getting hurt from Knockout or the vehicon. Soon, the security guards in the building were also chasing after him.

Rafael didn't realize that he felt slight relief at the sight of Knockout sliding right out front and opening his back door. He just wanted to not be caught by the guards.

His pursuers watched in shock as the boy dived into the red car, which immediately slammed the door shut and sped off, a purple custom automobile chasing after. Unfortunately, neither vehicle had a license plate.

Rafael panted heavily as he finally relaxed within the heated seats. "Well?" Raf jumped when Knockout's voice abruptly ended the silence and reminded the boy of his presence.

"I... was only... able... to get... clothes..." He spoke softly between breaths. He still was recovering from the adrenaline rush and the regrettable fact that he just robbed a Fencemart.

"So you still need fuel." Raf nodded quietly. "Fine, but the food is going with the vehicon, _not_ me." Knockout stated before calling for a new Groundbridge portal to somewhere else. "I recommend that you change into your new clothes, squishy, before we get to this 'Trader John's' place."

Rafael didn't respond though instead did as the 'Con advised. He tried very hard not to think about the next theft he was about to commit. He tried not to think about his actions or the consequences. He tried to not think about what his family would say-what his friends would say-what _Bumblebee_ would say.

Rafael felt... _wrong_.

The boy didn't notice that he had fully dressed and was now waiting outside the grocery store labeled 'Trader John's'. "I don't have all day, squishy." Knockout complained impatiently as he opened his door.

Rafael had never felt so much guilt in his life.

* * *

 **(A/N)**

 **So at the end, I actually went on both Google Maps and a Day-and-Night-Time-World-Map website so that I could make it accurate.**

 **Also, show of hands: How many people actually got that "Fencemart" was a reference to Wallmart? Or that "Trader John's" is a reference to Trader Joes. I was thinking "Hey, it's a different universe, why not have some fun?", ya know?**


	5. Chapter 5

**(A/N)**

 **Eyyyyyyy- Happy New Year everybody! Finally on to 2018! I'm sorry that this one took a while but I was kinda struggling with what I wanted to be in this chapter while at the same time I also wanted it to be a little longer as a make-up for how long you've been waiting. I am kinda slowing down with chapter updates and I'm sorry but it's probably not going to get faster anytime soon. I am still in school and I have finals coming, but I wanted to get this up and out of the way.**

 **Anyway, enough of my rambling, here it is!**

* * *

A depressing mood hung over the Autobot base in the week that passed. For their safety, Jack, Miko, and June were to be confined to base, which meant no school and that the Darby's had to quit their jobs. After the transmission with Megatron, Agent Fowler had no choice but to inform the government of Rafael's capture, which would also mean informing them of the other humans. **  
**

Fowler managed to convince his superiors to allow June and the kids to stay under the Autobot's protection, while the government would provide them with the proper necessities.

Meanwhile, Miko and Rafael's family had to be relocated, should the Decepticons return for them as well. Miko's host family were confused by why they were being forced to move, yet the answer they received did not answer all their questions. Both families were told that Miko and Rafael had accidentally gotten involved with a terrorist organization, and therefore had to be put under government protection. However, for the Esquivel family, they were told that their son was kidnapped by said terrorists and that they were being moved should the terrorists come back to try and captured more of them. The family, of course, demanded to know who exactly took their son and why they wanted him, but their questions merely fell on deaf ears.

Rafael's other family, the Autobots, were in disarray. Ratchet was on a constant search for any of the Decepticons' frequencies, while Jack and Miko looked for public sightings of their warship. Optimus, Bulkhead, and Arcee went on frequent patrols to try and track down any leads to the Decepticon's whereabouts. Bumblebee, however, was the most active. The second he was back in base, he bridged himself to another location, determined to spot the _Nemesis_ and get back his human charge. The bot rarely was in the base long enough to refuel or rest.

The team had multiple times tried to tell him to not push himself so much, but the young scout ignored them. Finally, when the scout began showing signs of energon depletion, did Optimus put his pede down.

"Bumblebee," the Prime said, trying to get the scouts attention before he could head out of the base for the fifth time that day. "While your motives are reasonable and your assistance appreciated, I would implore you to let your systems rest so that- "

"Rest?" He beeped, cutting his leader off and looking him in the optics. "You want me to rest while Raf is in the hands of the Decepticons? Rest while Megatron is doing Primus knows what to him?!"

Bulkhead stepped up. "Bee... he didn't mean it like that..."

"Then what _did_ he mean?" Bumblebee snapped, silencing the green mech. He felt a gentle yet firm servo grasp his shoulder, causing him to spin around and face Optimus.

"Bumblebee, we will find Rafael, however, in order to do so, we need to be fully refueled and recharged." He said in a stern manner, yet his optics were gentle and held only worry for his youngest soldier.

Bumblebee looked down at the ground, his optics dimming in what looked like defeat. Then, his servo suddenly tightened into a first before he ripped his shoulder from Optimus's grasp. "If you guys want to recharge then be my guest, but I'm not resting until I find Raf."

With that, he began to make his way into the tunnel leading outside, but before he could leave, a voice thundered behind him.

"Then I have no choice but to confine you to the base."

Bumblebee stopped and his helm whipped around to look at the Prime in silent shock. The other members of Team Prime also looked at their leader. The young scout searched Optimus's faceplates for any sign that he was lying, yet he found none.

"But Raf- "

"What will you do when you finally _find_ Megatron's ship?" Ratchet interrupted harshly, silencing the younger mech. He had been standing at the computer terminal, just watching their conversation, but now he decided best to step in. "Nothing. _Why?_ Because you would have so exhausted that you wouldn't be able to defend yourself, much less Rafael."

Bumblebee glared at Ratchet before looking down at his pedes. The scout knew they were right, and he did indeed feel incredibly tired. He also knew better than to disobey Optimus, and so, he retreated past his team and down the hall that led to his recharge quarters. The other bots in the room watched him go with sorrowful gazes. Bulkhead was the first to follow Bumblebee's lead to get some rest, and thus bid goodnight to his teammates before walking down the hall. Arcee stood next to Optimus and Ratchet before saying her own farewell and following. Now only the Prime and medic stood alone in the silent room.

"He's not going to give up." Ratchet told his leader. "None of them are, but Bumblebee more than the others. He's become so reckless since Rafael's kidnapping."

"Bumblebee was closer to Rafael than any of us, it is only reasonable for him to be the most worried of our young ally's well being," Optimus responded, his gaze still on the hallway that Team Prime had vanished down.

Ratchet hesitated before asking the Prime a question that had been bothering him since their transmission with the Decepticon's Leader. "Do you believe what Megatron said? About not... harming Rafael." The medic looked at the taller mech, who returned his gaze.

"I am not sure, Old Friend. However, if Megatron planned on bringing such harm to our human companion, I believe he would have made a ransom for Rafael's life." Optimus's optics narrowed grimly. "Whatever Megatron wants with Rafael, he wants him alive."

* * *

"Prime!" Agent Fowler's voice rang through the Autobot's computer terminal when Ratchet accepted the call. However, instead of the human's voice being full of anger or frustration, as it usually was, it sounded more like sudden urgency.

"Yes, what is it, Agent Fowler?" Optimus answered.

"Are all the bots there, cause they might want to hear this." The African-American asked him, to which the Prime gave him the affirmative, and the human continued.

"Two nights ago there were three total stores robbed in one night. Now, this wouldn't usually be brought up with you guys if all three robberies weren't made by the exact same person." The man hesitated as if he was still going through shock from the information. "Prime... it's Raf."

"Agent Fowler are you certain?" Optimus urged quickly before he or his team got their hopes up.

"I'm sending you the footage now."

Sure enough, a ding from the monitor alerted them that they received a data package. Ratchet opened it and the entirety of Team Prime, including the humans, watched as video footage from a security camera appeared on the terminal screen. It showed a familiar human in pajamas enter the store and move between multiple clothing racks while grabbing a backpack and a blanket, before bolting towards the store's entrance. The employees and security guards tried to catch him, but Rafael escaped by jumping into a red vehicle, which then sped off with a purple one right behind it. There were no license plats, however, the familiar insignia that bore their features told the Autobots that such information would be useless anyway.

"Knockout," Arcee spat, glaring at the video.

"Accompanied by a vehicon," Optimus added as they watched the other videos. They noticed that Rafael had changed his appearance before entering a food store and repeating the same process as the previous store. He grabbed non-perishable items before running out of the building and jumping into the vehicon this time.

The last store, Rafael seemed to only be able to grab a towel as he was almost caught by an already skeptical employee.

"We sure that's Raf?" Miko asked from the human's platform. "I mean, he'd never steal from anyone. Plus, why didn't he just contact us?"

"I don't doubt that the Decepticons somehow threatened Rafael into not contacting us, and even if he did, Soundwave was most likely monitoring all cellular frequencies." Ratchet theorized.

"There's a list of the items stolen, it came with the data package." Agent Fowler told them. Ratchet pulled it up and Team Prime all read it over.

June looked at the list, and while it might seem almost random, she as a nurse noticed a pattern immediately. "These are all items for basic needs." She realized.

The others looked at the woman, who quickly concluded that the Autobots were not following exactly. She then explained. "For physical survival, a human needs five things: food, drink, sleep, shelter, and oxygen. The Decepticon's warship provides for the last two, but if the others aren't taken care of, it would be problematic." June told them in a serious tone. She recalled the few patients she would get who were homeless and starving or suffering from the harsh temperatures of Nevada.

"The types of items on the list prove that Rafael must have known this too. A blanket and clothing for sleep and warmth, and non-perishable items for long-lasting food and drink sources." The nurse finished. "It's part of Maslow's Hierarchy of Basic Needs."

"June's right," Fowler spoke. "The kid was smart enough to know this, but with the list of items, it brings up another problem."

"And what's that?" Bulkhead asked.

"Non-perishable items," Ratchet repeated, emphasizing the words as he turned to the team. "Things that can last quite a while, at least by human standards."

"Which means that the Decepticons plan on keeping Rafael their prisoner for longer than we first suspected," Optimus confirmed everyone's thoughts.

It was in that moment of silence that Jack noticed a certain yellow scout was missing from the room. "Hey," the others looked at him. "Where's Bumblebee?"

They all looked around and indeed, their youngest ally was missing. The sound of a door closing echoed from down the hall, informing the team that the scout had closed himself off in his berthroom.

* * *

RRafael looked up at the Decepticon medic when he told him that Megatron would be coming by again for another "test". Rafael nodded silently, even if the medic ignored it, and then turned to look back at his 'home'.

Since he had stolen all those things from the stores, he had been moved from the glass cylinder to an empty shelf in the med-bay. With the things he stole, he made a makeshift bed that consisted of the blanket and his backpack as a pillow. A 'pantry', which was just all the food and water organized in a pile, was placed next to his bed. All his clothes were stuffed in his backpack and the towel was draped over it.

For the past three days, he had just been sitting there, watching Knockout go about his daily routine of tending to injured vehicons. Rafael noticed how they looked at him strangely like they were curious as to why he was there. The boy felt a bit uncomfortable when they would just stare at him and occasionally whisper among themselves, but besides that, Raf didn't mind their presence. It was interesting to actually be able to look at them without the barrel of their guns blocking his view. They seemed a lot more docile than what he was used to.

The sound of the med bay doors opening brought his attention to the Decepticon warlord that entered the room. Despite Rafael slowly getting used to being surrounded by Decepticons, he still always flinched under their leader's gaze.

Knockout walked into the room. "The human is ready for testing, Lord Megatron."

"Good," He said before making his way to Rafael, who pressed against the wall, not able to run anywhere on the shelf where he couldn't be reached.

And then it began, the rapid heating of his body, followed by the same powerful headache that he felt not that long ago. He slid to his knees and brought both hands up to his head. However, unlike last time, the pain stopped before he could pass out again. He stood up from where he fell on the floor, using the wall as a support, before looking up at Megatron, who's optic ridges were furrowed in deep thought.

"My Liege, if I may..." Knockout spoke up.

"Continue," was the Warlord's curt reply.

"Perhaps the human can't be controlled, he is, after all, a living creature rather than the terrorcons, who are dead." Knockout pointed out, being careful to mind his words.

"Oh _really_ , Knockout?" The sarcasm seemed to drip from Megatron's words as he glared at his medic. "I hadn't noticed." The cherry red mech gave a sheepish smile.

The warlord then turned back to the human before deciding to go a different route with his experiment. Perhaps there was another way to control the Autobot's pet. The insignia on his chest pulsed once again as he focused on the boy, or more specifically, the dark energon that acted like white blood cells in his body. The silver mech, using the Blood of Unicron, search through the vital systems of the child, who was expecting another wave a pain to hit him, yet instead, nothing happened.

 ** _~ Hmm, perhaps not, then, ~_** Rafael heard Megatron say, yet his mouth didn't move and Knockout made no acknowledgment that the warlord spoke.

 ** _~ What? ~_** Rafael thought to himself and as if he heard him, Megatron reacted by narrowing his optics out of suspicion. Perhaps he did do something after all.

 ** _~ Can you_ _understand my words_ _? ~_** The silver mech tested and, at first, Rafael thought that his voice boomed through the room, but instead, the boy realized that the voice was inside his _head_.

Rafael gave a hesitant nod.

"Fascinating," The warlord muttered, his optic ridges furrowing in thought.

"Uhh... what's fascinating?" Knockout spoke up, completely confused.

Megatron did not take his optics off the child, who was slowly becoming uncomfortable and more puzzled. "The dark energon seems to be acting like a spark bond, allowing telepathic communication."

Knockout blinked in surprise. "A spark bond?" He questioned but received no answer, for Megatron abruptly walked out, leaving behind two confounded beings.

"A spark bond?" Rafael recalled Ratchet briefly mentioning it, but he never went into much detail. "What exactly is a spark bond?"

Knockout eyed the human. "It's when two mechs, femmes, or both combine their sparks, trading one piece of their own with the other and vise-versa. It's most commonly used as a romantic union between two people, tying them to one another until they offline."

"So it's like a marriage? Only more..."

"Important, sacred, spiritual, depends on how one looks at it really." Knockout shrugged. "But it can be used in a sibling or parent-child sense as well." The cherry red mech blinked before rolling his optics. "Why am I even telling this to a useless flesh bag like you?" He muttered.

Rafael ignored his insult. "So family bonds? Are those also eternal, like the marriage one?"

"Yes and yes," the medic replied as he walked over to his buffer, hoping that the fleshie would drop the topic. His wish went ignored.

"Is there no way to... end a spark bond?" The boy asked, trying to hide the hope in his voice. If it was true that the dark Energon created a sort of spark bond between him and Megatron, however unusual that was, maybe there was a way that he could block him out.

The cherry red mech blinked before looking down at the boy, giving a sly grin. "You're clever for an Autobot pet, but you should know..." The mech leaned over to the human. "You can never con a 'Con." He then hit the button of his rotter and walked off to begin polishing his already shiny paint.

Rafael watched the mech leave before his mind traveled to a different thought. _'How?'_ It was a word that was constantly running through his mind. Telepathic communication between two bonded cybertronians was normal, or at least normal for them, but a 'spark bond' between a cybertronian and a human was impossible, wasn't it? Rafael didn't have a spark, so how was he able to connect to Megatron?

 _'If the dark energon is really like a spark bond...'_ Rafael looked in the direction that Megatron left in, his thoughts recalling the brief communication that they shared. _'Then what kind of bond do_ we _have?'_

* * *

 **(A/N)**

 **Uh oh, things are beginning to heat up back at the Autobot base. Meanwhile, Knockout and Megatron have discovered something quite unexpected, and Rafael doesn't know what to make of it.**

 **About the whole "spark-bond" thing... I have no idea if it's canon or mentioned in any previous continuity, I'm just gonna go off of what most fanfictions say about it while adding my own 'two cents', so to speak. I have my own opinions and ideas about the subject, but I'm currently unsure if they're going to be explained in this story.**

 **Oh, and Maslow's Hierarchy of Basic Needs is a real thing, I didn't make it up/create it.**

 **Until next time, have a good day or night!**


	6. Chapter 6

***Rises from the grave* I LIIIIIIIVVVVE!**

 **Ahem, anyway. Sorry for the long wait guys, I've been really busy these last few... months. Wow, has it really been _that_ long? Yeesh. Well, I'm just gonna say that I really appreciate all of the support I've been getting from you guys, and I really mean it. Seeing all of your wonderful comments gives me motivation. (No joke, I literally came on here a while ago, read the comments, and typed about 2,500 words.) Anyway, so as an apology and to make up for the wait, here is a chapter that is almost 5,000 words long. **

**I just want to say that even if I don't update for a while does not mean that I've given up on the story. Trust me, if I suddenly lost motivation to write this story anymore, I'd tell you guys that it was on hiatus or something. BUT IT'S NOT, SO DON'T PANIC.**

 **Oh, and another thing, a new cover has been made. I'm actually kinda proud of it, as I don't typically do editing, but it was still fun to make. Tell me what you think.**

 **Okay, see you guys next time, and thanks again so much for all of the support!**

* * *

About a week or so had passed and in that time Megatron tested the mental link again and again. Short and long distances, brief and extended conversations, all things to search for limits. The mech one time traveled down to the Earth's surface as one of the times to test the distance, however, instead of making their connection weaker, it seemed to increase substantially. Likewise, if Rafael was close to the Earth and Megatron was up in space, or if they were both close to Earth but on opposite sides of the planet. Despite the warlord and Knockout not actually sharing their discoveries with the human, Rafael was sure that they came to the same conclusions as the boy did.

The connection was stronger the closer they were to Earth, or rather, the closer they were to _Unicron_.

It wasn't that much of a surprise really, but Rafael never truly thought about it until then. If he and Megatron were connected to each other through Unicron's blood, then that would mean that they could probably communicate with the Chaos Bringer himself. Rafael was thankful now more than ever that the deity was gone, or at least, dormant. The boy shuddered to think about what kind of things could be whispered in his head. It was weird enough to hear Megatron every now and then but to hear _two_ beings in his mind would have just been too much, especially since one of those mechs was practically the cybertronian equivalent of the Devil.

And even though a week had passed, Raf still had no idea how to block Megatron out, much to the boy's disappointment, but he was getting better at learning how to respond. When he first did it, he was still in shock and confusion about how on Earth Megatron actually got into his mind, so it was more accidental than anything. The first few times the warlord tested the range of their 'telepathy'—Rafael was still unsure of the proper term for it—Megatron had begun to be frustrated with the boy for not communicating back. So he tried really hard to not further anger the warlord.

Right now, Raf could only manage to keep his focus for a few short words, but he was getting better. Granted, he did have a 40-foot-tall, sharp-toothed, and terrifying Deception warlord who was the one pressuring him... so there was that.

Today, however, there would be no such testing. The boy suspected that it was some sort of Decepticon business, and even if he was thankful to not have to be in Megatron's presence, Rafael was still very bored. He wasn't able to be near any technology, for the obvious reasons that he could somehow use it to escape, and he was currently sitting on the shelf that had become his home.

 _'It doesn't feel like home though.'_ He thought to himself as he pulled his knees closer. He wondered how both of his families were doing. He had no doubt that his biological family was kept from the truth and the Autobots were most likely trying everything they could to find him, especially a certain yellow bot.

Raf sighed, his eyes drooping slightly. _'I miss Bee...'_

Raf rubbed the soreness from his eyes and took another look around the med-bay.

Knockout was currently working on some vehicons who had a multitude of injuries from a cave-in at one of the mines. Most of them just had dents or scratches, however, there seemed to be a few that had gotten a piece of rock lodged in their systems. Rafael could tell that, despite his tools, Knockout was having difficulties with these ones.

"Hmm, well I can either risk my own paint getting scratched and have rocks lodged in my own circuits... or I could just scrap you all together. Not sure how the Big M would appreciate me killing off some of you, but I doubt he'll care enough to mention it." He grinned to himself as he looked at the vehicons, whose frames visibly shuddered. The cherry-red medic turned to his tools over near Rafael and went to pick up an object that the boy could not identify. However, when Knockout held it up, he paused when his optics locked onto Raf's.

"Hmmm, or perhaps there's a third option." He mused before smirking and, without warning, swiped the boy right off the shelf. Luckily, Rafael had the instinct to latch onto his glasses before they could fall off.

He was brought over to the first of the vehicons, who looked at him with an unreadable expression.

"Alright, squishy, here's the deal." Knockout began. "You're going to pick out all the rocks that I can't reach and I'm not going to be at risk of ruining my paint."

Raf frowned but wasn't about to argue with the Decepticon medic. So instead he nodded timidly, not trusting his voice, and hopped off Knockout's hand and onto the vehicon's chassis. When his shoes hit the surface with an audible _clang_ , Raf felt the chassis of the drone shudder in discomfort, and Rafael couldn't blame him. To the drone, it probably looked like the crazy medic who could care less about his life just entrusted said life into the hands of a small organic "parasite" who was about to dig through all his circuits. It was with that kind of thinking thatㅡfor the first time since arriving on the _Nemesis_ ㅡRafael Esquivel was thankful to be a human over being a Cybertronian.

The boy adjusted his glasses as Knockout guided him over to which wires had rocks lodged in them and Rafael started to work immediately. Fortunately for him, most of them he could carry with both hands, but there were a few where he had to break them apart with some sort of jagged metal staff-thing that Knockout gave him. When the boy asked him about it, the red medic waved him off saying that it was from a piece of machinery that broke off but wasn't significant.

After about half an hour, Knockout scanned the drone again and didn't find anymore lodged rocks. He picked up the young human again as the vehicon swung it's pedes off the berth and left the medical ward. Then, Knockout brought Rafael over to the next patient to begin the process all over again.

Raf wiped his forehead of the sweat that was beginning to form. It was going to be a busy day and his small body wasn't used to this kind of labor.

Oh well, at least he wasn't bored anymore.

* * *

The sight when Megatron entered the medical bay made the warlord pause for a moment.

On one side of the lab, Knockout worked at a casual pace as he professionally reattached a limb to a Decepticon trooper, while a few other drones waited patiently for their own injuries to be fixed.

However, this was not what caused the momentary hesitation, rather, it was the sight of the human child, on the other side of the room, crouching down in some wires of a vehicon. Based on the many contents that filled a tray next to him, the fleshling was picking out organic debris that was lodged within areas that a cybertronian could not reach easily.

Both the boy and the medic looked up at Megatron when he entered, only one actually met his optics, however.

"Lord Megatron..." The cherry-red mech glanced over at the boy with uncertainty before resetting his vocalizer. "I hope you don't mind me putting the fleshling to some work."

Said fleshling was still trying to continue his 'work' and ignore the two Decepticons at the same time. However, the tenseness in his shoulders did not go unseen by either party.

"As long as it does not danger his health, I could care less how you intend to make use of him. However, he will be finishing his task once we return." The silver mech said as he went to pick up the child, whoㅡbesides flinching at the sight of his clawsㅡdid not protest the action. The mech looked down at the tiny organic creature, one who was so weak that he could easily die if squeezed too hard. However, despite the sadistic temptation, Megatron still had a use for this human.

The former-gladiator then began to walk back outside the med-bay doors, before pausing and looking over at the confused medic. "As you were, Knockout." Then he walked out, not bothering to listen to the mech's reply.

As the warlord walked down the familiar halls of the _Nemesis_ ㅡthe human child avoiding his gaze as he sat with his arms around his kneesㅡhe mused about Knockout's decision. It had both its advantages and disadvantages, however, it did answer the question of what other uses the human had and what he was going to do when not being tested with. Ever since Breakdown's demise, Knockout had been having difficulties keeping up with the number of mishaps that flowed into his med-bay, so having the child work would help lessen that problem.

Besides, having the child forced to work with Knockout would have the Decepticons beginning to gain the boy's trust, which would be greatly beneficial. Megatron was no fool, after all, and he knew that he could not simply torture the organic into revealing the Autobot's base. The organic was young and therefore weak even in human standards. His frail form would not be able to endure the sorts of torture he would be put through.

The warlord frowned. _'A pity that the cortical psychic patch does not work for humans.'_ That option, unfortunately, could not even become available in the near future, as the creator of the cortical psychic patch was reported deceased and Megatron currently had no other brilliant processors at his disposal. The technology was still somewhat foreign even to the Decepticons, as the creation of the device was completed mere jours before being tested on the first subjects; two Autobots, both of whom were the ones that led to the destruction of his prized scientist and managed to escape to earth.

Therefore the last and least desirable alternative was to gain the boy's trust so he would become more loyal to the Decepticons than the Autobots. Unfortunately, that also meant that the child would most likely no longer be afraid of them, or more specifically, Megatron himself. Despite the former gladiator's passion for bathing in the fear of others, he knew that it would only hinder his greater desire to destroy Optimus Prime and his precious Autobots.

So, after much thinking on his part and some advice from his most loyal commander, Soundwave, the silver warlord knew exactly where to start.

* * *

Raf stayed silent as the Lord of the Decepticons walked stoically through the halls. Every now and then, they would pass a vehicon who would salute their superior, and like before, Megatron never did anything to acknowledge their presence.

Finally, when they came to a stop by a large window, the child completely forgot about his company and simply stared out in amazement at what he was seeing. He'd always seen pictures of what the Earth looked like from outer space, but to witness it first hand was nothing like the 2D photos. The boy stood up from where he sat on Megatron's palm and took in every detail of the seemingly small planet. The green and browns of the continents, all surrounded by the magnificent blue of the oceans and decorated nicely by the white clouds that danced on its surface. Half the planet bathed in the warm light of the sun while the other half was covered by a shadow. However, in that shadow, billions of tiny lights dotted the surface. Cities that still had not gone to rest.

Raf's amazement soon turned to one of grief and longing when he spotted the section of land that he knew was the state of Nevada. It was current at the edge of the sun's light, therefore telling Raf that it was almost sundown there. And despite it being a silly thought, Rafael wondered if his friends were looking to the stars and trying to search for the _Nemesis_ among them.

Thinking of the Decepticon warship was like a slap in the face from reality, and just like that, his wishful thinking was gone.

"Despite coming to dislike your species, I find your coexistence to be fascinating," Megatron spoke, sensing Raf's change in mood. "And I am envious of that."

Raf finally looked up at the warlord, a surprised expression on his young features. "But you continue to fight this war anyway... a war that is separating your race." Raf gulped silently to himself and watched the Decepticon's faceplates, searching for any signs of aggression, yet Megatron's face remained neutral as he gazed out the glass window. Taking that as a sign, Rafael pushed further. "What are you even fighting for anymore? Shouldn't you and Optimus be looking for a way to bring together your people?... In equality? Wasn't that what you originally started this war for?"

Finally, the mech looked down at the organic youngling who stood on his palm, somewhat tense yet calmer than before. It seemed that bringing him to look out the window did some good after all.

"Tell me, little one, what have the Autobots told you of our history? Word-for-word, preferably," he asked, curious now that the desired subject was brought up. He had been wondering how much the Autobots sugar-coated the truth, and it seemed as if he was going to get his answer.

Meanwhile, Rafael was hesitant to share, but he didn't see any harm in it after thinking over what Ratchet told them. "When Optimus lost his memories, my friends and I were told about when you two first met, a-as Orion and Megatronous." The boy paused and looked out the window again. The Earth looked peaceful, calm... moving slowly as if it was taking its time. So Rafael took a deep breath before continuing.

"Ratchet told us that Opti-er... _Orion_ was once a clerk in the Iacon Hall of Records and that you were a gladiator. Ratchet said that Orion had seen a corruption within Cybertron's leaders and an inequality amongst the people and that you too had seen this. He said that you were going to challenge your leaders and demand that all of Cybertron would be equals. Orion decided to help you and together you went to the High Council to state your requests." Here, Rafael hesitated, unsure of how the mech was going to react, but Megatron motioned for the boy to continue anyway. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Raf did just that. "Ratchet told us that when you went there, you not only commanded for the old guard to be overthrown with force but that you also demanded to be made the next Prime. T-That was when Orion stepped in and began to explain his own vision, which wasn't one that required violence. Ratchet said that it was then that Orion was deemed worthy of being a Prime." Rafael paused again and this time, Megatron did not motion for him to continue, so instead, the boy waited.

Truthfully, the human was half expecting Megatron to throw him across the hall or begin trying to tell him that everything he learned about Cybertron from the Autobots was false...

Yet he did no such thing.

"The field medic told you the truth," he said as his lips curled in distaste. "Despite it being very vague."

The boy gave him a questioning look, one that held an air of suspicion and rightfully so. He was currently talking with the Leader of the Decepticons, and thus a master of deception, after all.

Megatron grinned in amusement at the child's wariness. "Did the Autobots ever tell you the details of this 'inequality'? The details of what kind of leaders we had? Of what it meant to be a gladiator compared to being an Iacon clerk? Or the details of the cities we lived in? Or even what truly made me turn against one whom I considered brother?"

Rafael opened his mouth to defend the Autobots but found that he didn't know what to say that would prove his point.

"Then it seems that you are still unaware of the full truth of our history. I should have expected no less from the Autobots." He growled. A small part of him agreed that perhaps keeping the humans out of the dark might be for the best, but if the Autobots were truly going to trust their pets enough to give one of them the key to Vector Sigma, then they should at least tell them what they were even fighting for in the first place. Such blind trust. It disgusted him, yet he had to admit that it had proved useful in the past.

But this would work greatly to his advantage. Where Optimus would keep his pets ignorant, Megatron would fully exploit that, make the child come to _him_ for answers, knowing that although he would be blunt, he would not withhold the details of their history. The first step to wavering the trust the organic would have toward the Autobots.

"Cybertron was divided into a three-tier caste system; the High Caste, the Middle Caste, and the Low Caste. The High Caste contained the least amount of mecha, yet it included the rulers of the city, the Council themselves, and other rich and selfish cybertronians. The Low Caste was the exact opposite. It made up the majority of Cybertron's population with mecha being slaves from the moment they were sparked. The Middle Caste is just that; in the middle. They were those not considered nobles but were still 'free' in the sense that they did not have a designated master. It was considered rare for Low Caste to move up and even rarer for Mid Caste to become High."

Rafael was silent as the silver mech recalled back the way of life before the war. The boy was not unfamiliar with such a caste system, as many similar ones had occurred all throughout human history and still were existent even today, some just more obvious than others. So where was Optimus and Megatron in all this? From Ratchet's story, Orion Pax sounded like someone of maybe Mid Caste, perhaps even High, but what about -?

"As a gladiator, I was of the lowest caste. A slave of a single master."

Rafael's mind paused. Oh. That... made a lot of sense when he thought about it. The personality, his opinions, his motivation toward a revolution... If Cybertron's slavery and gladiators were anything like that of Earth's, Megatron was probably raised in a 'survival of the fittest'-world, where it was kill-or-be-killed every day. A lot of the pieces were fitting together, but Rafael was still looking at an incomplete puzzle and so many more questions forming in his mind.

"How did you ever meet Orion Pax?" The boy asked curiously, figuring that he should take advantage of Megatron's patience while he stil could. "He sounded like someone not in the Low Caste."

"Your assumption would be correct," the warlord answered. "Orion Pax was of the High Caste, however, he was not of a line of nobles. Instead, he was sparked and quickly became the apprentice of the Iacon Archivist and Councilmen at the time, Alpha Trion. By the time Orion had even heard of my name, I had already gained quite the following. It was only much later, and after I had been confronted by Orion, that I had named them 'Decepticons'. 'For if to tell the truth is deception, then we are gladly guilty.'" He said, repeating the long-forgotten moto with a spark of internal pride. "We pushed to exploit the corruptness of the council, at first making peaceful protests. But our minor protests began being ignored and considered nonsense, so Orion and I one day decided it best to directly confront the council. I, being the leader of the revolution, was the first to speak.

"At first, by request from Orion, I spoke of our ideals of equality and the benefits that would come from a society not separated by Castes and unjustified prejudice. But no matter how many words I spoke, the council did not listen. Before I was even finished with my speech, they waved me off and said that they would not let me waste any more of their _precious_ time.

"I grew angry and desperate, and so turned to threaten them by speaking of my more violent plans if they would not listen. So they tried to have me and Orion thrown out, and it was only when Orion spoke up did they finally listen."

"Because he talked about more peaceful methods?"

The silver tyrant scoffed. "Orion Pax merely spoke the same philosophies as I did, just in his own words. No, it was the fact that he was from the high caste that they listened to him and not a worthless _slave_ as I was. It also helped that Orion's very own mentor was one of the members." He paused for a brief moment before continuing. "The council did not actually care for what Orion was saying, rather, they saw an opportunity to turn the naive mech he was against the revolution. When they offered him the title of Prime, he at first declined, saying that I was more deserving, but the council insisted that I would make a terrible Prime and tried to once again push the role onto him. Unlike Orion, however, _I_ could see through their facade and knew what they truly meant by them wanting him to take the title of Prime. They wanted to control Orion, use him as a face to sway the public against the revolution, saying that Primus would approve of how the government system was working. They were all fools.

"In a last effort to save our revolution, I stepped forward and demanded to be named Prime instead as I knew I would not be swayed into helping them. The council knew this too and banished me from the room. Orion only watched and did not bother to aid me, so I turned and swore to bring down the council, no matter the cost."

A long silence hung in the air after those words, the only sound being the humming of the functions in the ship.

Rafael was silent as he pondered over the information. If Megatron was telling the truth, then the Council's actions _did_ make sense, despite how wrong it was, but that was a big _if_. Megatron was just messing with his mind, trying to turn him against the Autobots. The boy may have been young, but he wasn't stupid. He could tell that Megatron was trying to warp his loyalties, but... was this history the truth? The boy couldn't compare much, as the Autobots never really went into details. Maybe the story was just what it looked like from Megatron's point of view? Afterall, cybertronians weren't mind-readers, so he couldn't have _actually_ known what was going through all their minds-

No, stop, he wasn't believing Megatron. The mech was a great lier, as the Autobots have always told him. Megatron was just trying to get into his head, nothing else.

But... there's not really a 'good' and 'evil' side in a war, no matter the species. Maybe... Maybe Megatron was different in the beginning? War could surely change someone... so there was certainly a _chance_ that Megatron was different before, and therefore also a chance that the story could be true. Yet at the same time, Megatron didn't exactly strike out as the chivalrous type to Rafael. Demanding to named Prime for the sake of Orion Pax not being used by the council? That didn't sound like a 'Megatron, Leader of the Decepticons and ruthless Warlord' kind of thing to do.

Although, Rafael had only really met the warlord personally _once_ before his kidnapping and everything else was heard from the Autobots. Was he being biased? The obvious answer would be 'yes', as he never really had the chance to form his own opinion, not that that was the Autobots' fault. He had not even _heard_ the name 'Megatron' before meeting them. From everything that the Autobots said, Megatron sounded like a stereotype villain straight out of a comic book, which had never made sense to Rafael. Somebody didn't just start wars for the fun of it, or at least not one that would last millennia and result in their entire planet getting involved. Heck, even comic-book villains _always_ had some sort of reason behind their actions, and those were just fictional characters.

People in the real world though? There would always be a reason without a doubt.

Plus... Rafael found it kind of unusual that two people, or mechs, who called themselves brothers in everything but blood, would suddenly turn against each other so quickly. Ratchet had even told Rafael and the others that Megatron had actually _seen_ the honest corruption within the system and managed to convince many others of the truth. If Megatron was close-minded, then he wouldn't have been able to grasp the full picture, right? But then suddenly, this mech who had spent so much time meeting and planning with Orion had suddenly 'severed all ties'? No contact whatsoever?

There were certainly missing holes in the origin of the war and Rafael had to unwillingly admit to himself that despite his reluctance and defiance to see Megatron's words as truth, the warlord had managed to complete what he had meant to do. He managed to get into the child's head and make him question at least some of what the Autobots had been telling him.

Rafael slumped in defeat where he stood on the metallic servo. There were just so many questions and not enough answers... how much had been lies and how much had been truths... he honestly didn't know what, or even who, to believe anymore, and that scared him more than the Decepticon leader ever could...

* * *

Seeing the boy with such a defeated expression made the warlord grin in triumph. While the human youngling may not fully believe his little sob story, Megatron knew that the seed of doubt had been planted. Now, all that was left was to let that 'seed' grow.

"It is time that I return you to your previous engagements, human," he said to the boy and without any more warning, moved away from the glass. The organic only stumbled a bit at the sudden movement but said nothing.

The child was still deep in thought and Megatron knew that he would be like that for a long while. After all, the human was just delivered much information and was most likely trying to figure out what was truth and what was lies. It was amusing to the silver warlord, as he knew that which the boy refused to accept. That every word he spoke was the truth, even if some details were... skipped over.

After all, every good deceiver knows that the truth could be more harmful than any fabricated lie.


	7. Chapter 7

**Authors note at the bottom. Enjoy!**

* * *

Many more days had past and Rafael had since decided that he should probably create a calendar of sorts. Unfortunately, he didn't have any writing utensils, so he had to get a little more creative. Thus, using wrappers and the sharp edge of an empty soup can, he created a makeshift calendar, using tally marks sliced in the paper to count the days. So far, he had been there for about two months, maybe more, as it was not completely accurate.

In the more recent days, the boy had begun to get used to the work that Knockout would put him through, which now included buffing being added to his official list of 'chores'.

One thing that Rafael had learned during his time aboard the _Nemesis_ was how much the mechs on the ship gossipped. It seemed that once the vehicons had gotten used to his presence, they just ignored him altogether and would talk amongst themselves. The human child usually listened in on such conversations, as they ranged over a multitude of topics. Rafael often found himself comparing the vehicons ㅡ Knockout too, now that he thought about itㅡ to many teens in his school, with how much they all talked.

Listening in on gossip was actually how Rafael was able to know about anything that happened outside of the warship ㅡ scratch that ㅡ outside of the _med-bay_. The drones would talk so much that every now and then the topic of the Autobots would come up.

Whenever this happened, Rafael always made an effort not to perk up or show any sign that he was listening, in fear that they'd stop talking and let the subject drop.

They often mentioned and discussed how in the past two months, the Autobots had been quite obviously restless, as they would hit many mines. Recently though, their attacks seemed to be decreasing with the little amount of success in securing energon.

The Autobots have been looking for him, that much Rafael was certain of, but he had to admit that he had been disappointed to hear that they had been slowing down in their searches. Were they giving up on him? No, they couldn't have been. They were family. Bee was family. They'd never give up on him...

 _'Energon! It had to be that they were running low on energon, after all, if they were hitting as many mines as the vehicons said they were, then they were using the ground bridge a lot. Maybe they just burned through so much that they now had to save their reserves, after all, it wouldn't be the first time.'_ The boy thought to himself as he sat on his shelf.

"What's wrong with you?" A flamboyant voice asked and Raf looked up to see Knockout staring at him from where he was in the med-bay.

"Uh, nothing..." Raf responded, a bit startled by the uncharacteristic question.

The mech, in turn, gave him a 'yeah right' look and then immediately suspected what the human was thinking about, as there has recently been a topic of gossip that's become more common than others. He sighed in annoyance and looked the boy straight in the eye. "The Autobots won't be able to get on this ship, you know. We've been spending a lot more time in spaceㅡoutside of a ground bridge range, mind youㅡso it'd have to be a pretty big coincidence for them to come aboard."

Rafael furrowed his brows. "They've gotten on the ship before though. Didn't Arcee follow after you that one time and managed to get aboard?"

"Don't get cute with me, fleshy," he countered, not willing to let his ego be hurt. "Besides, even _if_ the Autobots managed to get aboard, what makes you think that they'll even want to take you back?"

"Huh? Wha- ... what do you mean? Of course, they'd take me back."

"Even though you're now carrying dark energon? You _are_ directly connected with Lord Megatron, and he could find you despite whatever shielding the Autobots have over their base. When they know the truth, they'll probably stay as far away from you as they can."

"No, they won't!" The boy insisted. "They're not like that."

"Are you positive about that?"

"I-..." He trailed off. Of course he was certain, they were his family...they'd accept him without hesitation... They wouldn't care about his connection with Megatron... even if he was their mortal enemy... it's not like he'd ever purposely give the coordinates to the Autobot base. He may have only known them for ten months, but he trusted them, and they trusted him.

 _'And yet you still don't know the truth of their war.'_

Rafael shook his head, clearing away the dark thoughts. "Of course they'd accept me."

"Riiiight,"Knockout drawled, returning to his work at the monitor. "Come talk to me about it _after_ you've convinced yourself, first."

The boy said nothing more.

* * *

Blaring alarms and lights flashing red startled both Rafael and the vehicon he was working on, causing the child to lose his balance and fall from the chassis. The boy cried out, expecting to hit the floor and feel pain, only for him to suddenly land on soft metal instead. Looking up, he saw the vehicon he was cleaning now holding him in his servo, apparently having caught him.

As quickly as the alarms came on, they stopped.

Knockout also seemed confused, as he was looking around with an optic ridge raised in question. "Strange..." he muttered before walking over to the medical console in the room.

Rafael's attention was soon brought back to the vehicon who caught him as he felt himself being placed on the med-berth. The boy fixed his glasses before looking up at the 'Con.

"Um... thanks," he said.

"No problem, fleshy."

Raf blinked, not having expected a response. The vehicon, however, just looked to the Commanding Medical Officer, as did the other few vehicons in the med-bay, probably expecting orders.

Knockout pressed a key on the control panel. "Soundwave? Why was the alarm going off? Is something wrong?" There was silence, as expected before Rafael caught some familiar lettering appearing on the screen. Of course, the human couldn't actually read it, but at this point, he was beginning to memorize some of the glyphs. "Alright, then what am I doing, exactly? Just staying here?"

This time no glyphs appeared and the connection went blank as Knockout was cut off. The mech held an unimpressed look. "I'll take that as a 'yes' then." Rolling his optics, the flamboyant medic then turned his attention to the few vehicons in the med-bay, but before he could say anything, the doors slid open and in walked the Third in Command, silent as ever.

"Ummm, hello?" Knockout hesitantly greeted his superior, however, the silent mech just ignored him and rather made his way over to Rafael. He reached out with his long arms and, with surprising gentleness, picked up the human child. Knockout just stared for a moment, a question on the tip of his glossa, before waving his servo in dismissal. "Even if I asked I probably wouldn't get an answer."

No response... as expected.

Raf was also silent as he was carried out of the medical bay and into the halls. Soundwave seemed to be dead set on a path, but to where the child had no idea. Maybe Megatron needed him for another 'test' but couldn't come himself? No, that couldn't be it, as the 'tests' usually took place in the med-bay. So then what was -?

His thoughts were cut off when Soundwave stopped moving and stood in the hall. Confused, Raf looked up at the visor face. It was then that the boy heard the strange sound. It was quiet at first, probably why he didn't notice it at first, but the sound was getting louder. It was a humming-no- _buzzing_ sound, like that of insects.

"Soundwave? What is that noise?" Rafael asked.

" _-...Insecticon...-_ "Came Megatron's voice as an answer.

"Insecticon? Aren't they part of the Decepticon army?"

" _-... Hmmm, I'm not quite sure. It_ seems _plausible but as of now I can't give you a straight answer...-_ " A voice clip from Knockout was used this time.

Suddenly, the ship lurched violently, but luckily Soundwave was able to plant his feet and keep himself from falling over. Once more, the alarm went off and red lights began blaring throughout the ship. Regaining his balance, Soundwave quickly made his way over to the nearest console, placed Rafael down and began typing at a speed that seemed impossible for a being his size. His tentacles were released from his frame and connected to the computer terminal.

Rafael watched in fascination of the images that moved across the screen at incredible speed. _'Was Soundwave reading all of this?'_ Rafael glanced at the mech, who was solely focused on the terminal. _'That's amazing. The Autobots mentioned how he was practically like a walking database but to process and read all that information so quickly... no wonder the Autobots are always wary of him.'_

On the screen, the images began slowing down and Rafael managed to catch sight of schematics of the ship and red glyphs in some areas, probably showing the damage. Quickly, Rafael began focusing on memorizing as much as he could, not only of the ship but of the keys that Soundwave would hit and the glyphs that would go across the screen. At one point, Soundwave's moments halted for a moment before he pressed down on a single key and live footage of outside popped up.

It showed a whole swarm of Insecticons flying around the ship, shooting at it and at the vehicons that stood upon the flight deck, who returned fire. The swarm flew by the ship and then past it, before appearing to turn around for another wave of attacks.

Soundwave then pulled up another video feed, this time showing what Rafael could only guess to be the brig of the ship, given the layout of the room. Inside, Megatron stood, his fusion canon raised at Starscream. Looking at the other three bodies in the room, Rafael had to rub his eyes and look again.

 _'Four Starscreams?'_

Before Megatron could finish off the last, the ship rocked again, and Rafael barely managed to keep his footing this time. He felt a gentle yet firm servo come up behind him and keep him steady before following said servo up to Soundwave.

"Thank you..." The mech only returned a nod before looking back up at the control panel.

It seemed that Starscream #4 got away, as he was nowhere to be seen. Megatron, meanwhile, walked out of the brig.

.:: Soundwave::. A voice suddenly came from the tall and creepy mech and Raf immediately recognized it to belong to the warlord. .:: I am making my way toward the flight deck. The brig is secured. Return to your station and keep this ship under control::.

Without even replying, the silent mech picked up the human child carefully and began to continue on his original course. The walk was really awkward in Rafael's opinion, as the mech did nothing but stare straight ahead. The boy couldn't really tell if the mech was hurrying or not, his movements being so graceful.

Finally, they reached a large set of doors and they opened automatically. Rafael looked around, his mouth agape slightly in amazement at all of the alien technology. It was every geek and nerd's paradise. The single, and sometimes bug-filled, monitor that the Autobots had was nothing compared to all of the stuff in that room.

Soundwave made a beeline for the central console, that most likely being the main computer. Rafael was deposited at the space of the desk between the keys and the monitor itself before the silent mech began once again typing at abnormal speeds. Rafael stepped away from the screen and stood at the side of the console to get a better look. He watched mainly the live footage of the flight deck, his eyes glued to the battle. After many moments, and not long after Megatron had joined the fight, the Insecticons suddenly ceased their attacks before kneeling before the silver warlord.

Based off of the footage, Megatron was just as confused as Rafael was.

Seeing the attack outside had ceased, Soundwave looked down at the organic at his side and Rafael stared back into the black void of the mech's mask. A ping then sounded from... Soundwave before the mech's helm returned to the screen. A minute later, Knockout came through the door and went straight for his commanding officer.

"Please tell me you're not about to send me out to fight those..." he shivered. "Gastly creatures."

" _-... the boy...-_ " came Megatron's voice from Soundwave before the mech continued looking over a long series of cybertronian text and a diagram of the ship. The threat had now past and the human child could be returned to his usual place.

Knockout seemed relieved to not be fighting the creatures he considered disgusting and picked up the boy, with none of the gentleness that Soundwave had displayed prior. He then took Rafael from the control room and walked back down the halls. As they made their way back, they were coming up on a rather large door.

Suddenly, the whole ship rocked and Knockout had to use the wall to stay supported. Then, not a moment later, heavy footsteps could be heard coming from behind the door. Knockout looked up and waited, thinking it was most likely Megatron, but at the same time wondering what would cause the mech to run.

His question was soon answered when the large door opened and a mech stepped out only to halt, resulting in both Knockout's and Raf's 'eyebrows' to shoot up.

"Raf?"

"Bulkhead?"

There he was, in all his glory, the big lug and wrecker of Team Prime with a relieved and brightened expression on his face. However, as soon as his blue optics fell on the mech holding the boy, his face hardened and his servo shifted into his signature wrecking ball.

"Let him go, 'Con, and I'll let you live."

"Ha! Are you kidding? Megatron will have my finish if I lose the squishy." Knockout claimed and proceeded to turn away and transform, having Rafael land in his front seat, the safety belts strapping him down.

"Oh no you don't!" The green mech exclaimed before transforming himself.

Despite Knockout's alt mode being faster, the entire ship was shaking and making it very difficult to grip the ground properly. Bulkhead's alt, however, enabled him an easier time with gripping and thus he was gaining on them very quickly.

"Lord Megatron! There's an Autobot on the warship and they're currently pursuing me! Oh yeah, and the human's with me." Knockout commed, making the panic very evident in his voice.

.:: Make your way to the flight deck, I will meet y-::.

Knockout's cry of pain cut off the warlord as the Aston Martin came to an abrupt stop. Raf recovered from the jerk—the seatbelt having saved him—and looked up at Bulkhead who stood in front of Knockout, his wrecking ball having come down on the hood of the sports car. With Knockout now pinned, the wrecker reached around and pulled a move from Optimus's book—by literally pulling off Knockout's car door and reaching inside for Raf.

The dull digits gently wrapped around Rafael's small form and pull him loose. When Raf's eyes finally met Bulkhead's, he hugged the mech's finger as much as he could.

Bulkhead let out a small chuckle. "Good to see you too, kid. We've all been really worried, especially 'Bee."

Raf's smile turned slightly pained. "I know. I've been repairing all the vehicons you guys have been beating up." Bulkhead gave him a confused expression and Raf returned it with a reassuring smile. "I'll explain later when we're— _Bulkhead, look out!_ "

The mech spun around but was too slow to react to the electric prod that was suddenly shoved into his chassis. A split second later the mech was screaming in pain from the electric shocks that coursed through his systems like wildfire.

Unfortunately, when the prod was shoved into Bulkhead and began its function, Raf fell from his hands and saw the ground coming at him fast. But before he could impact it and go _splat_ , a servo came under him and caught his body. The boy temporarily had the wind knocked out of him before recovering and looking up at his savior.

Knockout looked over the human in his servos for injuries for but a second before deeming the child fine. He then clutched the human firmly as he stepped away from the Autobot and released him from the shock hold. Bulkhead collapsed to the ground as he groaned in pain, his systems having to reboot.

Knockout plopped Rafael on the ground away from the Wrecker's reach. "Stay here, fleshy, my finish needs its revenge." He said before twirling his staff as he turned to Bulkhead.

Rafael stumbled to stand up ㅡ he was dizzy from all the abrupt moving in the past thirty seconds ㅡ but quickly snapped out of it when he saw the flamboyant medic standing over his Autobot friend. Knockout transformed the servo not holding his prod into his signature buzz saw. As Rafael saw it spin, he knew exactly what was going to happen next and his heart sank in fear.

"Knockout! Wait!"

The cherry mech hesitated just long enough for Bulkhead to recover and slam his wrecking ball into Knockout's frame, sending the mech flying past Rafael and hitting the wall.

"Knockout!" The boy yelled in alarm, unaware of his legs carrying him to the downed mech until he reached his white faceplates. The mech was contorted in pain as the impact heavily dented his chassis, more specifically the plating covering his spark chamber. "Knockout, are you alright?"

Bulkhead watched the boy, confusion covering his faceplates. "Raf, what are you doing? Get away from him!"

Rafael froze, his mind soaring a thousand thoughts a minute.

What _was_ he doing? Knockout was the enemy. He's a Decepticon, the bots who hate his planet with a burning passion! They're evil beings who—

 _"Despite coming to dislike your species, I find your coexistence to be fascinating... And I am envious of that."_

The memory took him by surprise when it resurfaced. He remembered seeing Megatron's calm expression when they gazed out of the window at Earth, not a trace of hatred to be found in his crimson optics.

 _"...I was of the lowest caste. A slave of a single master."_

 _"I spoke of our ideals of equality and the benefits that would come from a society not separated by Castes and unjustified prejudice... the council did not listen... they waved me off."_

The Cybertronian caste system, the whole reason this war had begun in the first place. Such injustice in the government, truly meaning a corrupt ruling. Nobels, commoners, and slaves were what their society was divided into, but for how long? How had such a system come to last for so _long_? Was there another system before it? What was Cybertron like before its 'Golden Age'? Based on that kind of idea of government, and comparing it to past human societies, maybe... maybe Megatron's intentions really _were_ once noble and true. That was a possibility he was willing to admit.

 _"...it was only when Orion spoke up did they finally listen."_

 _"... It was the fact that he was from the high caste that they listened to him and not a worthless slave as I was..."_

But to the Caste system, it didn't matter, did it? They didn't care about honest intentions, only what one's social standing was. So if two people were to appear before them, one a gladiator and the other a 'pure-blood' Nobel, it was easy to predict who they would be inclined to listen to more.

And yet...

 _"The council did not actually care for what Orion was saying, rather, they saw an opportunity to turn the naive mech he was against the revolution... They wanted to control Orion, use him as a face to sway the public against the revolution..."_

Becoming a Prime would do just that, wouldn't it? It would have been a brilliant scheme conducted by the council. Was that why Megatron hated Optimus so much? Because he accepted the title of Prime and was swayed against the revolution? Was that how the Autobots came to be?

 _"... Orion only watched and did not bother to aid me, so I turned and swore to bring down the council, no matter the cost."_

Raf was missing something, something vital. There was such a large gap of information unknown to him. What happened after the council? Did they never try to contact each other again? What happened before Orion became Optimus?

His thoughts were quickly interrupted when claws seized around him and he found himself being held securely against Knockout's chest, as the mech was now sitting on the floor with his back against the wall.

"Stay back, Autobot!" Knockout growled ㅡ now beyond annoyed at his paint being dented and scratched as much as it was ㅡ as he held out his energon prod threatingly, or at least, as threateningly as he could given his position. He was a scientist, a medic, not a warrior, but he'll be in even deeper scrap if he ran away from this fight... being the only ship's medic could just save him so many times. "...Or I _will_ squish the human." He said emphasizing his point by applying pressure to Raf's body, but not very much.

Bulkhead did hesitate but he did not make any move to back down. "Give the kid to me and I'll let you live another day." He threatened, his face turning to anger, worried for the safety of the Autobot's youngest human ally.

 _"Did the Autobots ever tell you the details of this 'inequality'?... what kind of leaders we had?... what truly made me turn against one whom I considered brother?"_

Raf looked at Bulkhead, his brows furrowing subtly as he studied the Wrecker.

In all the time since he had known them, the Autobots hardly ever talked of what transpired before the war. They only repeated that Cybertron was once beautiful and filled with life. Bumblebee was too young to have remembered a time before violence, so Raf could never blame him for not speaking of it, but according to Jack and Miko, Arcee and Bulkhead didn't talk much either. And Ratchet, a mech who had always expressed such fondness over the planet, hardly gave any details and would just say that it was none of their concern. And Optimus... Optimus always avoided the topic or gave some sort of excuse.

The boy's intelligent mind craved for more knowledge, for the answers to his questions, and although he trusted the Autobots with his life, he knew that they would not give such explanations. Rafael refused to be naïve in the war, a war that had already consumed Cybertron and who knows how many others. A war that had now come to Earth. His very own planet.

 _...there's not really a 'good' and 'evil' side in a war, no matter the species..._ Those were his thoughts at the time, he remembered.

Megatron had been the mech who ㅡ willingly ㅡ shared the most information, so far, at least. It wasn't a crime to want to know more about cybertronain history, and if Rafael was to be honest with himself, he had always been curious about all things cybertronian since the day he first laid eyes on one. An entire species of sentient robotic organisms, who had a history, a government, languages, customs, and science that was so similar to humans yet completely different.

And now, he had a chance to learn about those topics. History of their planet, the science of their biology, and even bits of their dialect from just observing were things that he learned during the two months he had been on the warship. All things that the Autobots did not wish to share even with the kids they had let into their sparks.

Rafael had questions... and he needed answers.

And the only ones he knew would give him answers were, unfortunately, the Decepticons. He... he couldn't believe the Autobots to be truthful to him any longer, not when he would now be doubting everything that they'd tell him.

Rafael felt a pang of guilt at the thought.

Distrust and doubt. It only took two months of living with the Decepticons for him to associate those words with the Autobots, and Rafael felt shamed that his trust in his _family_ had wavered so easily.

In his silence and deep thought, Rafael finally took notice of the familiar presence that prodded the Dark Energon coursing through him. Megatron was making his way toward them. Infact, he was getting very close in a very short amount of time.

"Bulkhead... you have to run."

The mech looked at the boy, stuttering. "But I can't just leave you with the 'Cons!"

"I-I'll be fine, I promise," he said, giving him a strained and desperate smile. He knew that he probably wasn't looking very convincing, being held in the claws of a Decepticon. "But your window of escape is closing, _fast_ , especially with Megatron on his way here."

When Knockout heard this, he let a smirk creep along his face ㅡ albeit somewhat pained ㅡ as he stood. He still kept Rafael close to him and the sparking prod aimed at Bulkhead. "You heard what the kid said, so just run along back to your beloved Prime, _Autobot_."

Bulkhead growled, not wanting to risk hurting Rafael should he attack, and for a moment, the kid-genius thought that he wasn't going to listen. At least, that was the case until they heard heavy pedesteps quickly becoming louder.

They all knew that there was only one mech on that entire ship who could make such loud pede falls.

Bulkhead was only allowed a moment to look at Rafael one last time, for when he transformed into his alt, Megatron came screeching around the corner. The warlord raised his weapon and fired but the rocking ship made it difficult to aim, thus resulting in his shot to be off course. Bulkhead had already taken this opportunity and gunned it down the hall and out of view.

Knockout's tenseness immediately vanished and he retracted his weapon. The medic then leaned against the wall, using it for support to stand up among the tremors. The boy in his servo looked down the direction Bulkhead had disappeared with a saddened expression.

He hoped he made the right choice.

Megatron lowered his arm and scanned the hallway before looking over at the medic and human. He managed to keep himself standing up straight despite the shaking.

"The Autobot is no longer of importance at the moment. Take the human back to the medical bay and prepare for an emergency landing." He ordered before making his way ㅡ with some difficulty due to the tremors ㅡ toward the direction Knockout had just run from. Rafael suspected that he was heading toward the brig.

Knockout huffed before picking up his arm door and slowly heading back toward the medical bay, using the wall to stabilize himself. The doors slid open and Knockout stumbled inside, Rafael still in his servo. At this point, the human child was already feeling the sickness in his stomach. Rafael looked at the shelf he had been living on and noticed how most of his items had fallen off and became a pile of broken things on the floor much below.

The red lights still flashed throughout the ship and that, along with the constant shaking, was making Rafael more nauseous by the minute. Still in Knockout's grip, he focused solely on trying not to empty out his stomach's contents all over the mech.

"Attention crew!" Megatron's voice thundered throughout the ship. "Prepare for emergency landing."

Knockout moved as swiftly as he could over to the nearest medical berth and used it to brace himself. Not a moment later, the entire ship lurched and shook even more violently than ever. Then, after a moment, it all stopped.

Knockout, who had been clutching Rafael securely, looked up and around the med bay.

The place wasn't as messy as one would think after experiencing a crashing ship. However, due to the fact that the med bay was located on the ship in the first place meant that most things were already secure in case of an emergency, such as the one that just occurred. Some equipment had unfortunately fallen to the ground but nothing fragile or important was broken.

The medic sighed in relief now that the chaos was over with. He put the boy down on the metal berth before stretching and popping his joints. He then looked down at his frame and growled.

"Accursed Autobots... no respect for the paint whatsoever," he grumbled to himself before a small groan returned his attention to the human child who was kneeled over and shaking. His breathing was slowed down as he tried to settle his racing heart and throbbing head.

"Gotta say, I wasn't expecting you to tell the big lug to leave. I thought you'd all be for him pounding me to scrap and taking you back to the Autobots."

Once he finished composing himself, Raf adjusted his glasses and looked up at the white face plates of the medic. "B-Bulkhead would only get himself captured... o-or worse if he stayed to help me."

" _Sure_. Like that wasn't the only reason. Don't think I didn't notice your hesitation earlier, or when you screamed my name and ran to me." He smirked, his optics glinting with something Rafael couldn't place. "I may have been slightly dazed but I wasn't knocked into stasis, squishy. It's _touching_ to know how much you _care_."

Rafael winced at the sarcasm.

"I-I don't..." he said meekly.

"Careful, little human, your Decepticon side is showing..." the medic teased.

"I'm not a 'Con!" He protested but Rafael's words fell on deaf receptors, as Knockout just waved him off, his smirk remaining as he moved over to his buffer shelf.

Rafael watched him before his eyes fell on his hands.

He only wanted information, so he told Bulkhead to run and save himself. Bulkhead wouldn't stand a chance against both Megatron and Knockout, they both knew that. Plus, Rafael had unfinished business, unanswered questions.

He looked over at Knockout once more, who had begun his self-repairs.

He'd never join the Decepticons, that he swore with his very _life_ , so... it wasn't like he was _betraying_ the Autobots by wanting answers...

... right?

* * *

( **A/N) Hey, ya'll! Thanks so much for all the positive reviews, they always put a smile on my face. This chapter here is my longest yet and we start to see Rafael's opinions changing from forced perspective. I always felt like Rafael was smarter than he let on, so I'm trying to convey that in this story. Remember, I'm writing a non-canon AU, so that means that I don't know how the characters would _really_ act in such positions, but I'm trying not to make them appear too 'OOC'.**

 **Also, as this story continues, please keep in mind the time frames and the fact that little things will happen in between time jumps, such as relationship building. I will sometimes write the small interactions and _try_ not to speed up this story, but I can't write every single day of Raf's time on the _Nemesis_. Trust me, I don't want to have a story with really fast pacing, so if I seem to be heading that direction, please let me know.**

 **One last thing:** This story is now on Wattpad. **So you can now read it there as well.**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading and I'll see ya next time!**


	8. Chapter 8

**(A/N)**

 **Oh mah friggin' goodness! FINALLY! This thing took so long and I'm sorry it did, but school started back up for me and I've been a little busy. Another reason is just that this chapter is now my longest. Don't know why they're getting longer and longer, though. Probably because these last two were episode rewrites?** **I don't know, but I don't think you guys are complaining. Anyway, thanks again so much for all of the wonderful reviews and encouraging words, it always puts a smile on my face.**

 **Also, I've been rereading the previous chapters and I think I'm gonna rewrite a few of them. Nothing too major, just correcting some grammar mistakes and continuity errors that are there. Speaking of grammar and continuity, I feel like the text might start getting a bit confusing, so I decided to make one of those Formatting Legends that some stories have. If you guys find it annoying, I'll only have it for this chapter, but otherwise, I think I'm just gonna include it at the beginning from now on.**

 **Speech Legend**

Regular → "Blah blah blah."

Thoughts → _'Blah blah blah.'_

Communications Link → .:: Blah blah blah. ::.

Voice Clip → " _-... Blah blah blah...-"_

Bumblebee → **"Blah blah blah."**

Dark Energon Link → _**~ Blah blah blah. ~**_

* * *

Knockout had quickly rushed to the control room by his master's orders a few minutes ago and hadn't yet returned. Raf was left on the medical berth alone in the room, while alarms could be heard echoing in the halls. It was quite obvious that the Decepticons had suffered major damage to the ship, but which systems were uncertain. The boy looked over at the computer terminal which sat next to the berth, before looking back at the door. There was no telling when Knockout would walk back out through that door, so the boy knew he couldn't waste any more time.

Rafael quickly made his way over to the edge of the berth closet to the control panel and studied the distance. It was quite wide, but with enough speed, he figured that he could make the jump if he ran... _and_ latched on properly... _and_ was able to hold his body weight... _and_ didn't slip off and fall to his death. Alright, it wasn't exactly the best option, but he couldn't really see a faster and safer way. The berth itself was latched to the ground by a single support, one which was directly in the center of the slab of metal and thus wasn't in reach for Rafael to climb down.

So the boy walked away from the edge and looked dead on at his target. He placed one foot behind him and the other in front. His body was crouched down and his arms poised in a ready position. He took a breath as doubt began to creep into his determination, but he ignored it. With a start, he sprinted across the berth as fast as he could before hitting the edge and leaping off the sides.

The side of the control panel came at him quickly and his hands desperately moved to grip onto something, _anything_. He found a good hold almost immediately and stopped gravity from dragging him down with a jerk. He grunted at the impact of his small body hitting the alien metal, slightly winded, but kept his grip regardless. Taking a moments rest, he once again put on a face of determination as he began climbing up the terminal's side. Crawling all over vehicons and repairing them was really paying off, as Raf had no doubt that he would've had a harder time completing such a rigorous action without prior experience.

When he reached the top, he pulled his body over the edge and rolled onto his back, panting at the exercise. Once he had regained some air, he sat up and pushed his glasses back onto his face. He stood and looked up at the large keys that laid out before him. Rafael thought back to all the times he witnessed cybertronians working on their terminals, his memory able to recall the exact keys that Soundwave hit not that long ago. Thus, he moved forward and looked at the keys he now stood on. A human's weight alone was not enough to press down on them but add gravity...

Rafael jumped up and landed forcefully on the key he had stood on before making his way over to the next and jumping on it. Repeating this process, he eventually was able to pull up the status of the _Nemesis_ and a happy smile found it's way onto his face as he lit up like lights on Christmas.

He did it! He actually operated cybertronian technology! The child had not been this excited about something in a while, not since that time Bumblebee got his T-Cog back and the two spent the entire day together celebrating.

His excitement sobered at the thought of his best friend and guardian, but now was not the best of times to think about his friends. Raf shook his head a bit and returned his attention to the screen in front of him.

The damage that was on the screen Soundwave was looking at before was nothing compared to the damage he was seeing now. So many sections of the _Nemesis_ were blinking in red and text next to them probably read off the damage. Familiar glyphs could be seen on the monitor, but Rafael still had no idea what they meant. However, given what the ship had experienced, the boy could wager a guess as to how heavy the damage was. Raf then began jumping on more keys, trying to see if he could pull up a live feed of the damage. The first video he found was the feed of outside, the same camera Rafael and Soundwave earlier saw the insecticons attacking on. However, this time, there was no insecticon threat and instead of clouds being in the background, Rafael saw a wide open plane with mountains. The area wasn't familiar so Raf quickly moved on.

He glanced at a key to his right, one Soundwave used to switch cameras earlier, and jumped on it, hoping that he would be able to scroll through _all_ of the cameras. It must have been his lucky day, as that was exactly what happened. He went through the different perspectives, now viewing the cameras inside the ship, very carefully. Rafael didn't know how to return to a previously viewed feed and he honestly didn't want to have to cycle through every single camera again just to get back to it.

All throughout the warship, Raf watched as vehicons ran about fixing up the internal damage. Finally, the feed came to a stop in the control room and Raf blinked in interest. All the Decepticon officers were standing in there and it seemed that he caught just the last of their conversation.

"... think that the Autobots would really take advantage of this?" Knockout asked from his position at one of the large computers inside. His voice was slightly distant and muffled, but Raf could still hear him. "Doesn't seem very sporting."

"Optimus has grown quite desperate recently, so I would not put it past him," Megatron answered. He then muttered something to himself that was too quiet for the cameras to pick up, but the way his helm snapped up and his optic ridges furrowed in thought, made Rafael believe that the warlord just came up with an idea. "Hmm, perhaps that could work..."

Megatron turned to face his officers. "Soundwave, how much dark energon do we have remaining from the mining operation?" The number displayed was too small for Rafael to see, and he didn't want to risk trying to zoom in should he press the wrong key. "Then we have room to work with."

"Lord Megatron? Do you have a plan?" Dreadwing asked.

"Indeed I do, but whether my theory is correct or not will have to be tested," was all the mech said before he began striding out of the control room, followed by his officers. Rafael monitored them through the camera feeds, losing them a few times only to find them once again. Finally, the mechs landed in a very large chamber, one filled with hundreds of energon containers, leading Raf to assume the chamber to be the engine room. The boy adjusted his glasses out of habit. Well, that could be useful.

The workers inside looked up from their repairs on the core and saluted to their superiors before continuing their work. Megatron walked over to the pile of purple, glowing cubes, a small portion compared to the immense amount of blue cubes that adjourned the room. The warlord then looked up at the core, and Rafael immediately put together what the silver mech was planning.

The others too seemed to have picked up on this as it was not long before Knockout began his protest. "Lord Megatron, as your physician I _strongly_ advise against this! While I agree that dark energon's regenerative properties _are_ impressive... we do not know the side effects that it might have on the ship."

"A compelling point you make, Knockout, but nevertheless, I still have to disagree with you," Megatron spoke. "With dark energon coursing through both my veins and the ship's fuel lines, I may very well be able to control the vessel as an extension of myself, acting as if we are both one."

"I'm afraid I too have doubts, Lord Megatron," Dreadwing added in, trying to further sway their master from what could potentially end up backfiring. "The _Nemesis_ was once Trypticon, after all, and thus the dark energon may revive him, turning him into a terrorcon that could prove difficult to control."

"But you forget, Dreadwing, that Trypticon's altmode was repaired and reconstructed as a simple machine, replacing his once spark chamber with a regular warship engine. His T-Cog has also not been repaired since he perished, and no terrorcons have displayed the ability to transform thus far." Megatron reminded his SIC, who seemed to give up on trying to persuade the silver mech.

Back in the medbay, Rafael stood on the terminal, very confused. 'Trypticon' was not a name he recalled ever being mentioned before, especially the fact that Trypticon is, or _was_ the _Nemesis_. The Decepticon officers spoke of the mech as if he was deceased, so Rafael's nervousness about being inside of a sentient being was quelled slightly. Sure, he rode inside the vehicle altmodes of Knockout and the Autobots before, but he never drove them or interacted with their control systems directly. Learning that the Decepticons literally lived and operated inside of a once alive being was extremely disturbing. But maybe that was normal for cybertronians? After all, no one had complained about having a being ride inside of them, just the fact that the being was organic.

And what exactly happened to Trypticon? He must have been massive and definitely not an easy foe to take down. But thinking about the mech's probable size and the troubles the ship makes for the Autobots on itsㅡ _his_ ㅡown, Rafael was thankful that whatever that event was, actually occurred. Team Prime's mission of defending humanity would most likely have been over a lot quicker had such a cybertronian still have been alive.

Rafael watched as Soundwave walked up to one of the terminals on the core and typed in some commands. The giant claw in the room came alive and moved over to grab one of the dark energon cubes and place it inside the core. Megatron then walked ahead and pushed forward a switch, driving the new energon to be accepted, as evident by the blue fuel lines in the room quickly turning purple.

Rafael took a step back as the dark energon in his blood pulsed, eagerly almost. It was strange to think of the substance in such a way, but Rafael could not explain the feeling otherwise. The terminal before him suddenly turned red and he watched as the usual red lights inside the medbay turn to a familiar shade of purple.

The boy could _sense_ the dark energon throughout the ship. He could _sense_ all the beings aboard the ship. He could _sense_ every single one of the functions, all at once. It was so bizarre and overwhelming, Raf actually had to sit down in order to process it. Was Megatron feeling the same thing? Was this what he meant 'an extension of himself'? Maybe... maybe Raf should ask the warlord. After all, the mech would probably be a little suspicious if the human who too had dark energon coursing through him didn't mention the sudden rush of power.

 _ **~ Um... Megatron? What's... happening? ~**_ He struggled to ask, not having to fake the uneasiness he was feeling. It was odd though, with him being the one to start the conversation instead of vise-versa. It was also quite difficult, as usually, he didn't have to search out for Megatron's signature. When speaking over the bond, Rafael found himself relying upon the warlord's presence as a way to focus his thoughts.

But he was definitely better than in the beginning. It was still embarrassing, just how broken his 'speech' sounded, but at least he didn't talk like a caveman anymore. _That_ was absolutely humiliating.

Raf suddenly felt surprised, but... he didn't know what about, just that he found himself surprised rather abruptly. Maybe he was surprised that he was able to activate the connection to the Decepticon? No, that wasn't it...

 _ **~ You can feel the dark energon? ~**_ Came the voice, though not harsh or angered by the organic's question.

 _ **~ I can... sense the... ship? It's... weird. I feel... everyone... aboard... and its... systems... but mostly... just the fuel lines. ~**_ Raf paused, unsure, before continuing. He had to sound a little ignorant, otherwise, Megatron would be wondering where all of the questions came from. _**~ Did... did the... ship... always... have dark... energon in it? ~**_

 _ **~ I'm impressed that you can sense it, although I suppose that shouldn't be much of a surprise. No, the ship did not always possess dark energon, ~**_ There was a long pause and Rafael was a little tempted to 'speak' again, but Megatron's voice interrupted. _**I will send Knockout to fetch you. ~**_

And then nothing else. The ending was abrupt but Rafael was happy to at least have gotten a warning. He looked back at the terminal and saw that the same red screen with glyphs flying past it was still up. Since the same screen was on all the other computers in the room, Rafael didn't think it best to mess with the terminal any longer. So, the boy turned to look back at the berth that now was on a level lower than him, making this jump much easier than the first.

With a push off the ledge, Raf landed knees bent on the metal berth and went to the edge closet to the door.

He waited for a few minutes until Knockout entered the room and made a beeline for the human child. He was plucked up by the mech's sharp digits and carried out all very quickly. It seemed that he was in a hurry.

"You wouldn't happen to know why Megatron wanted me to pick you up, would you?"

"No, not really," Rafael answered truthfully. "But... I did sense the dark energon in the warship."

"Hm, expected, I suppose," the cherry-red mech said back. "I _really_ don't know what the Big M was thinking, using _dark energon_ to fuel the ship. The results of using such a substance are unpredictable and risky."

Rafael blinked. Was Knockout showing his more scientist side? He once revealed to Raf before that he actually wasn't really a medic, just the closest thing to one that the Decepticons had besides the medical drones. So was Knockout some kind of... biologist then? Maybe he should ask the mech about it sometime, as the flamboyant 'Con certainly loved talking about himself.

Raf held back a sigh. Yet another question added to his ever-growing list.

They reached the control room soon enough, finding all three of the other officers standing at the head of the catwalk. When Knockout walked up to them, they turned and looked down at the organic who now stood in the medic's palm. Rafael did not like the sudden amount of attention.

"Tell me, human, what exactly about the ship do you sense?" Megatron asked. They still did not know the extent of the abilities the dark energon in human blood had, so he had to be cautious here. If it turned out that the child could control the ship as he could, it would prove greatly disastrous for he and his Decepticons.

"I... It's mostly that I can feel every cybertronain aboard the ship. I can't _see_ where they are, but I _know_ where they are," Raf explained, mostly repeating what he said before. "Just everyone's presences and I can tell the difference between the vehicons and yours."

"You mentioned briefly that you can feel the ship's systems. To what extent do you mean by that?" Megatron watched as the boy analyzed the question and a glint of understanding was evident in his organic eyes.

Understanding the potential danger, Rafael decided it best to be honest with his answer. If Megatron perceived the boy as a threat to his faction, there was a good chance that the most efficient course of action would be to eradicate that 'threat'. Suddenly, he felt himself becoming a little braver, not wanting to stutter in his next words. "I can only feel where all the ship's systems are, but I can't interact with them, only be aware that they're there and what they're doing."

"Lord Megatron." A vehicon called from his post. "The ship's systems have fully repaired themselves and we are ready for take-off."

"Good," Megatron replied, his purple optics glowing menacingly. Within the next moment, the ship rocked subtly and the reports on the screen displayed the rising altitude, signaling that the _Nemesis_ was airborne.

A ping from Soundwave attracted everyone's attention to the mech's visor, where he proceeded to display a live video feed from outside. When Rafael saw it, his heart sank.

"Optimus," Megatron chuckled. "You never disappoint. And what better way to be able to test my new control over the warship than to lay waste upon my enemies."

He reached out to the warship, using the dark energon as a guide, and activated the canons. The Autobots scattered like insects, dodging the shower of bullets that rained down upon them.

Suddenly, Megatron became aware of a fear not his own. He knew that the emotion was not his own as he remembered the feeling of recognizing another being's emotions. Most cybertronians did. It was a common side-effect of being in a bond with another. The last and only bond he ever had with another being was Orion Pax, but his brother had long been deceased, his memory disgraced by that of a Prime who dared mock Megatron by wearing the same face.

So then-

"I wasn't aware that the ship was equipped with a stasis beam..." Knockout's voice broke Megatron out of his musings. Filing away the question of the source of the unknown emotions, the warlord returned his attention to the matter at hand.

* * *

Rafael had been watching in utter fear and panic as the Autobots tried dodging the warship's shower of bullets. They weaved and jumped, slid and flipped, doing everything they could to not get hit by the onslaught.

"Bee...?" He croaked quietly as he watched his guardian get hit by a beam of light and not move. _'Get up Bumblebee! Please!'_

The mech did not budge, not an inch.

Above Rafael, Knockout hummed in thought, looking closer at the screen. Gravity had not taken hold of the yellow scout's limbs, and his biolights and optics were still illuminated, signaling that the mech was indeed alive.

"I wasn't aware that the ship was equipped with a stasis beam," he concluded, turning to look at the warlord, who walked forward.

Everyone in the room watched the Autobots one by one, grab the device dropped by the scout before eventually freezing up in a forced stasis lock. When the scanners focused on the object, it was identified as the destructive Spark Extractor.

"Fly us closer, quickly! The Autobots cannot be allowed to keep that relic," Megatron ordered his troops, but instead watched as the screens showed the _Nemesis_ moving away, increasing elevation and flying past the Autobots' still frames. "Where are you going? Turn around!"

"Lord Megatron, the ship seems to be navigating itself," one of the vehicons at the control panels reported.

"Then overwrite the _command_." He bellowed, his patience running thin.

The vehicons resumed their typing and not a moment later did the warship rock violently, causing all to stumble and Rafael to almost fall out of Knockout's servos. Luckily, the medic was able to catch the boy before that happened, but Knockout only scanned him for a moment before they both returned their attention to the warlord at the sound of his frustrated growl.

They all looked at the same vehicon who spoke before. "Sir! All systems are bypassing manual con- _TROOOLLL_!" He shouted in pain as electricity shot up from the console and into his systems, resulting in the vehicon collapsing as stasis took hold.

Everyone stared at the fried Decepticon trooper.

"Lord Megatron, you don't think the ship possesses a will of its own, do you?" Knockout asked.

"It's impossible," Megatron hissed before turning his attention to his officers. "Trace the problem to its source and eradicate it at once!"

"DO NOT TAMPER WITH MY SYSTEMS," a voice boomed overhead. "THIS WILL BE YOUR ONLY WARNING."

"Warning?" Megatron demanded.

"ANY CYBERTRONAIN WHO DARES INTERFERE WITH MY MISSION WILL BE SWIFTLY ERADICATED." The voice answered.

"My own vessel dares to make threats?!" The silver mech bellowed in response but was ignored. Just then, a continuous beeping noise echoed throughout the control room and Soundwave immediately pointed to its source.

Rafael followed everyone's line of sight and looked at one of the screens, which displayed a line of glyphs that blinked in and out in rhythm with the beeping. The boy wondered what they were and his answer soon came via exposition from Knockout, who quickly reported the glyphs to be coordinates deciphered from the Iacon Data Base.

Coordinates that lead to a shiny new relic, no doubt.

A _ping_ from Soundwave brought back everyone to the mech's visor which displayed a location on Earth.

"New York?" Rafael spoke aloud without realizing before he quickly shut his mouth. The 'Cons looked down at him, seeming to just then remember that he was there with them.

"The human city seems to be the warship's destination, my Liege, based on our current course," Dreadwing elaborated.

"Then perhaps the vessel is merely living off of my own desires, continuing the task which we have set for it," he thought to himself.

"YOU HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH MY MISSION. THE ARTIFACTS WILL BELONG TO ME AND ME ALONE," the warship responded.

"Belong to you? I am the commander of this warship and am thus in command of you. **You will cease these operations at once."** He ordered and Rafael felt the use of dark energon in the last order, but the ship did not falter. The dark energon in its systems greatly outnumbered that of Megatron's.

"YOU ARE NO LONGER IN **COMMAND** ," the vessel responded back and both Rafael and Megatron did not get any warning before their minds were assaulted by an internal burning, as if the warship was forcing them to submit to its will. The warlord shouted in pain briefly, collapsing to one knee as he fell and clutched his helm, while Rafael too gripped his head, but instead let out a whimper. Having less dark energon in his system than Megatron, the ship's assault did not affect the boy as much, but that didn't mean that the pain was any less bearable.

Finally, the ship let up and the pain ceased.

Megatron looked up and barely registered his physician's servo on his shoulder. Instead, he merely looked behind him at Soundwave.

"Regain control of this vessel, by any means necessary," he growled.

Without hesitating, Soundwave whipped around his frame and attached his cables to the nearest terminal, only for electricity to travel through his cables and up to him, releasing a power shock. The mech stood there, being electrocuted until his systems couldn't take any more and induced a forced stasis lock.

Everyone hesitated in shock before Megatron's commanding tone broke them out of it. His leader instinct taking control, the silver warlord began barking out urgent orders.

"All hands! Cut power to the mainframe and disconnect data relays. Now!"

Everyone scattered to fulfill their leader's demands.

* * *

Knockout did not bother to drop Rafael off in the medbay center, instead, he made his way around the ship. Both the mech and the boy saw all the stasis-locked vehicons along the way, all of whom would not be freed unless the ship itself did it. Which, given the current situation, was highly unlikely.

When they spotted a consol, Knockout walked over and placed Rafael down on it, however, his optics never left the screen.

"Lord Megatron, a second set of coordinates have been decrypted. Perhaps we should permit the ship to contin- "

"Knockout!"

Raf's warning came too late, and the medic was hit with the stasis beam from the ceiling, resulting in his form to freeze in a slumped over position at the terminal.

"I DO NOT REQUIRE 'PERMISSION'," was all the warship said before the stasis gun retracted from the ceiling.

The boy stood in silence.

Now what?

A _ding_ suddenly sounded from the terminal and Rafael watched as one of the smaller screens at its side displayed audio waves.

.:: Autobot Omega Outpost 1 to Decepticon Warship: Megatron please respond. ::.

Rafael's excitement skyrocketed at the familiar voice of Ratchet and a joyous smile found its way onto his face.

"Ratchet! Ratchet, I'm here!" The boy called.

.:: Come in Megatron. ::. The medic continued, not hearing Rafael at all. The boy yelled out Ratchet's name again but to no avail. It was likely that Raf had to hit a button of some sort in order for the mech to hear him, but the boy did not want to risk getting electrocuted by the console.

Suddenly, the ship's voice boomed above. "MEGATRON HAS BEEN RELIEVED OF HIS COMMAND."

Rafael gulped. Megatron was now out of commision as well? That wasn't good news.

.:: Who is this? ::. Ratchet questioned.

"WHO IS _THIS?_ " The ship returned.

.:: Have you taken control of the Decepticon vessel? ::.

"I _AM_ THE VESSEL. ANY CYBERTRONAIN WHO INTERFEREs WITH MY MISSION WILL BE NEUTRALIZED."

There was a long pause.

.:: What mission? ::.

"PRIORITY 1: DECRYPT IACON DATABASE."

.:: For what purpose? ::.

The ship did not answer, rather, it just cut off the call completely, much to Rafael's disappointment. Now how was he supposed to get help? The entire crew was in stasis, including all of the superior officers, and the Autobots, for the most part, were neutralized as well. The only cybertronian functional was Ratchet, but if he came on the ship then he would just be shot out of commission along with everyone else.

 _'But the ship didn't shoot me... or even Agent Fowler for that matter... Humans must be unregistered life forms in the warship's scanners!'_ The boy concluded in his mind, relief over washing him.

But when Raf looked back up at the red screen above him, dread once again crept back into his mind.

"Two sets of coordinates have already been decoded, with the third one on its way." He mumbled allowed to himself, a habit he had never gotten over even after he gained friends. "The ship is currently heading toward the first relic, which is located in Manhattan. But if the ship wants that relic... it's going to have to dig through the city itself and..."

All those people would die and no one would be able to stop it.

 _'No one but you,'_ came a rare and brave voice in Raf's head as he stood there.

He was the only one left on the warship, a warship that couldn't even see him. No help would be coming, but that didn't matter. Raf still had to try.

The boy turned from the console began climbing down Knockout's frozen frame, mindful of where he placed his feet and careful not to make any scuff marks that the medic would yell at him for later. When his feet hit the floor, he looked back up at the computer one last time, finding the second set already halfway decrypted.

He needed to move fast.

Closing his eyes, he focused on the dark substance in his blood. Using it, he then searched out for the largest concentration of dark energon in the ship, which didn't take long to locate. Then, eyes snapping open, he spun around and began sprinting down the hall, one that led to the engine room. If the _Nemesis'_ engine operated like Rafael thought it did, then there was a chance that he would be able to dump the dark energon and rid the warship of its influence.

Along the way, he moved past many more vehicons and insecticons. They all seemed to be heading the same direction that Rafael was heading in, meaning that he was most likely on the right path.

When he finally did reach the engine room, he came to a sudden halt at the familiar being who stood ahead of him. His frame arched in an awkward position, the silver-armored warlord stood frozen at the switch for the engine. He must have had the same idea. Taking a deep breath, the boy began climbing up Megatron's leg. It was definitely hard, but once again, the boy was able to call on his experience of climbing on the vehicons' frames, even if the size differences were great. When the boy reached the mech's shoulder, finally able to take a brief break, he glanced at Megatron's face before looking away. Continuing, he then slid off of the armor and landed onto the console. Ducking under Megatron's arm, he moved around to his servo, which gripped the switch tightly.

The boy moved forward and tried to push the lever, but to no avail. Frowning, he stood back up and studied the switch once more. It was worth a shot, but Raf knew that he wasn't strong enough to push both the lever _and_ the cybertronian's major weight.

"Raf?" A familiar voice called and Rafael looked down behind the warlord to find his friend, Jackson Darby, standing on the floor. He smiled up at the younger boy. "You're okay!"

"Jack! How'd you get on the ship?" Raf questioned, but it was obvious that he was happy to see the probably-now-17-year-old.

"The ship isn't cloaked, so we decided to sneak aboard to download the database and rescue you." He explained before cocking his head slightly when he finally realized Raf's position. "How did you even get up there?"

"Uhh," he trailed off, glancing at Megatron. "I... climbed."

Jack raised an eyebrow but didn't question it. The teen then walked over to the pede of the silver tyrant and placed his hands on the metal. His eyes searched for a good spot to place his foot but he couldn't find one that didn't look like he was going to slip from. He tried different angles but was still having difficulties. Suddenly, a hand appeared in his face and he followed the appendage to find Raf smiling at him

"Need some help?" The boy asked and Jack gladly took hold of his hand. Working together, the older teen was hoisted up onto the back of the heel.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome," Raf said back to him, his smile still there before his brows furrowed in thought when he looked behind the teen. "Hey, um, where's Miko?"

Jack sighed. "We split up. She ran off to look for you while I headed to the engine room to stop the ship."

"What?!" Raf shouted, surprising the older teen. "You guys realize that once the dark energon is dumped, the entire crew will be freed from the stasis lock, right?"

"We... didn't think of that," Jack admitted.

Rafael looked down. No doubt Miko would be running around aimlessly, as the _Nemesis_ was like a maze. Its corridors were practically copies of one another.

 _'Wait, the corridors... With the dark energon, I can sense everyone's presence.'_ Raf thought to himself before once again focusing on the alien substance. It didn't take long for him to find the one person who was moving around the ship, as all others were still.

"I'll go look for her then. You focus on figuring out a way for the fuel to be dumped. Once you do that though, you gotta run outta here quick. It won't take long for him to wake up." Raf gestured to the mech whose pede they were still standing on. "The rest of the way should be easier."

"Got it," Jack nodded and Raf began to climb back down. "Wait, but how will you find Miko?"

Raf turned to respond but stopped.

 _"...When they know the truth, they'll probably stay as far away from you as they can."_

"I'll... figure it out somehow. I know my way around the ship by now better than you guys."

He was out of the room before Jack could say another word.

* * *

"RAAAAAAFFFFF!"

The boy winced at his friend's loud voice as it echoed down the hall. It was fortunate that all of the Decepticons were in stasis lock, otherwise, Miko would have been already caught and who-knows-what done to her. Then again, she was never really one for stealth in the first place.

"Miko! I'm over here!" He called back, panting as he did. Luckily Miko didn't get too far from the engine room, but the run to her was still quite tiring.

"Raf!" Came the spunky voice and suddenly he heard her footsteps grow louder and louder.

When he rounded the corner, he only had a split second to see the colorful mass before it _glomped_ him and lifted him off the floor.

"H-hey, Miko," he wheezed, struggling in the girl's strong hug. "I missed you too."

He was finally put down and looked up at the girl's face for the first time in months, only for him to blink a few times at her features.

Gone were the two pigtails at the top of her head, instead, a simple loose ponytail hung down her back while shorter strands hung limply at the top, most likely the shorter hairs used for the pigtails.

She must have noticed his questioning gaze, as she quickly lifted a hand to her head and rubbed the back of it. "Oh right, my hair. Yeah, I haven't been too focused on it recently, haven't exactly had the time. Not like my host parents are complaining though. They think that I'm finally becoming more 'lady-like'. Pft, in their _dreams_." She explained, mumbling the last part.

"Oh, well, it looks nice," Raf complimented awkwardly, knowing the girl often had hard times with her host parents. "But anyway, we need to get out of here. Jack is currently trying to dump the dark energon, and when that happens, the whole crew will be released."

"Scrap! Well, lead the way, Raf-man." She said, but before they could begin making their way, the sound of shifting metal was heard above them.

They looked up to see a camera in the ceiling. "ANOTHER PARASITE? I'M INFESTED WITH THEIR PRESENCE!"

Suddenly, a different hatch opened in the ceiling and a gun deployed from it, its aim immediately settling on Miko and Rafael.

"Run!" He shouted and the two bolted immediately, a gunshot going off and the ground where they once stood now charred and smoking.

The two teens ran to the nearest vehicon and took shelter behind its legs, pressing up against the warm metal to better hide. The two exchanged looks before Raf suddenly saw movement behind the girl.

"Miko!" He shouted, pouncing on the girl and knocking them both down as a deadly beamed passed over their heads. They lifted their eyes to find the gun now trained on them.

Yet it didn't fire.

"VISUAL LOST. RESCANNING INTERIOR." Came the thundering voice, which paused for a few moments.

"It can't see us?" Miko whispered to Raf, the both of them still in a pile from the younger teen knocking her down. The boy, too, was confused as to why the ship suddenly ceased its attack but didn't dare move. For some reason, it couldn't see them once the two friends became a dog pile.

"PARASITE SPOTTED IN FUEL CHAMBER. ENGAGING NOW." The gun suddenly retracted back into the ceiling and no other movements came after.

"It's going after Jack!" Miko concluded quickly and Raf got off of the girl before helping her up.

"This way!" Rafael shouted and the pair bolted off once more.

They ran down the large hallways, but despite their determination, they were getting tired fast, both already exhausted from running around earlier looking for one another. Their breaths became more shallow and frequent as their movements slowed.

"Come on... almost... there..." Miko panted, but even her usual seemingly-endless energy had found its limits. The two came to a brief halt to regain their breaths, but in those small moments, the thundering voice was once again heard.

"CRITICAL POWER DRAIN. I... AM IN... COMMAND.." The voice was broken, static beginning to filter in and distort it. "PREPARE TO BE... NEUTRALIZED..."

Nothing else was said, but when the lights of the warship began to return to its normal coloration, Rafael felt the dark energon in his blood act up. The larger dark energon source in the ship was gone. Jack did it.

"Come on. The 'Cons are gonna wake up soon." The boy told his friend and once more, the two children took off, racing down the halls and past drones whose systems were rebooting. They were so close but - "We're not gonna make it!"

"Then what do we do?" The girl asked quickly and Raf's head searched around before spotting a vent entrance. Pulling Miko along, he led her down into the ship's cooling systems which ran along the floor of the halls. The space was so large, even Bulkhead would have been able to crawl through them. The inside of the vent was not shaped like human vents, however, meaning they were not boxy and simple. Rather, a single line of light ran along the bottom and the walls had indents that, to a human, were like cliffledges wide enough to be paths. Thus, the children did not have to fall all the way to the bottom and could still easily climb back up onto the hall floor.

The two kids checked if anyone had seen them, and luckily no one did. Then Miko, suddenly getting an idea, flipped out her phone and the light illuminated her face. Her eyes looked back up at Raf. "Think I can call Ratch and get him to send a bridge?"

"You can still get a signal? Soundwave must not have rebooted the ship's shielding," the boy concluded, surprised at such a notion, given that the silent mech was known to rarely overlook important details. _'Maybe the stasis is still wearing off of him? He was one of the first 'Cons to be shocked...'_ Raf shook his head, refocusing on Miko's idea. "But I wouldn't call Ratchet just yet. We need to make sure that the cost is clear first."

Coincidently, after he finished his words, thundering steps suddenly vibrated the floor the two humans stood on. Given their position on the ledge, they were able to press against the wall to hide while at the same time look at who was there.

"King 'Con?" Miko asked, a bit panicked, but quickly reminded herself that they were hiding in the vents, a space hard to reach for a mech his size.

Raf didn't respond, instead, he focused on the dark energon. Megatron was not actively looking for the young human, so hopefully, the silver warlord would just keep walking and not notice the child's presence.

When Megatron ceased his walking, Raf knew fate was laughing at him.

"Come out, child. You know there is no use in hiding from me," came his gravely voice, and even if he did not turn around and look directly at him, Raf knew he wasn't lying, for the boy could feel the truth in his words.

Reluctantly, he moved to climb out but Miko immediately grabbed his sleeve. "What are you? _Crazy?_ "

"He already knows I'm here, Miko, but he doesn't know _you_ are," he told her. "I'll distract him. When he turns the corner, you need to call Ratchet and run through the bridge quickly. Tell everyone I'm fine, okay? Especially Bee? Please?"

The girl gave him another bone-crushing hug before pulling back and punching him in the arm. "Since when did you become braver?" She joked before her face softened. "But yeah, I'll let them know."

With a smile, Raf then turned and hulled himself out of the vent. The ground shook briefly as Megatron turned and walked toward the child.

"Ahh, there you are," he spoke, his optics once again their original fiery red. "Did you really think that you could escape while we were in stasis?"

"No, not really," Raf responded, hoping that the half-truth would be satisfactory enough. "It was worth a shot."

"Obviously, not a very successful one." Megatron mused before kneeling down and holding out his silver-clawed servo before the child.

Raf looked down at the open palm and fought the urge to glance over his shoulder back at Miko. He couldn't give away her position now, so he, hesitantly, stepped into the Decepticon Lord's claws. In one fell swoop, Megatron stood up with the boy now in his grasp and turned, keeping the corner of his optic trained on the organic in case he would fall off.

"But I do wonder what sort of trouble you managed to get into, given that my entire crew was frozen and the ship had, obviously, not been able to destroy you." He began as they walked down the hall, Rafael able to keep his balance.

When he had first been carried around casually in the palm of a Decepticon's servo, he immediately realized just how careful the Autobots were while walking around with any human. They usually were mindful of their steps and tried to make their walking as smooth as possible. The Decepticons, however, did not. They were constantly moving, always having a destination and some list of tasks that needed to be filled. Thus, they were always in a hurry as well. Especially the officers. And _especially,_ especially when the officers were being summoned by Megatron. Rafael quickly picked up that it was common sense to never make the warlord wait longer than he had to.

But basically, Raf had to learn how to balance on the palm of a briskly walking Decepticon quickly, lest he accidentally fall off and break a bone at the very least.

"I was trying to reverse the energon flow and... purge it from the ship's systems," he explained. Raf hoped that any footage during the ship's take-over of... well, _itself_ ... did not survive, since that would mean Megatron would know that Jack and Miko had managed to infiltrate and steal the Iacon Database.

"Yes, quite an impressive feat for someone of your... stature."

Raf blinked. That... wasn't a compliment, right? Maybe he heard wrong...

"Yet you were not alone, now were you."

He winced. That was definately a statement rather than a question.

As if _sensing_ his thoughts, Megatron's optics hardened. "So tell me, exactly how did you manage to contact the Autobots?"

The sound of a groundbridge portal opening answered instead and Megatron whipped around to see its green light coming from the corridor he found the child in. Gripping Raf tightly, he ran back only to watch as the swirling vortex closed before the warlord could even reach it.

Megatron stared at the spot in the hallway before glaring down at Raf and unconciously applying enough pressure to make it a little more than uncomfortable for him.

Rafael felt angry. No, wait, he wasn't angry. Why would he be angry? Megatron was the one who would be angry, given that he knew that Raf had distracted him from Miko's escape, but then why did Raf feel anger and... disappointment? Not only that, but he felt fear at the same time, which was reasonable considering his position, but that didn't explain his other emotions.

"Misdirection, human? How noble of you to sacrifice your freedom for an ally's," the warlord sneered before reaching up to his comm. unit. "Soundwave, check the ship's shielding. I don't want any more Autobots or their pets sneaking on board."

Megatron then clicked off the call and returned his attention to the boy in his grip. "Now, care to enlighten me to exactly what had occurred during your 'misadventures' as well as what part you played in the thievery of valuable data?"

 _'Thievery of valuable data? That means Jack managed to get the Iacon Database!'_ Raf briefly cheered in his mind, thankful that their mission did not turn out to be a complete failure.

"I... first headed to the engine room to see if I could reverse the effects. I couldn't, but then Jack came in. He told me that Miko was looking for me in the ship, s-so I left him. In the engine room. I found her not long before Jack managed to succeed in dumping the dark energon. Miko and I were hiding when you found me." Raf explained vaguely and hoped that Megatron would not inquire as to what the interactions specifically were about.

The silver mech studied the boy and Raf shrunk under the crimson gaze. Living with Decepticons for two months did not mean that the warlord scared him no more. The mech still gave off the impression of a predator, and that all not strong enough to fight him were mere prey. Raf had definitely gotten used to their behaviors, but he never forgot just what the giant beings were capable of.

Then those crimson optics blinked and the mech's expression shifted into something briefly before it vanished, gone too fast for Rafael to recognize it. Without another word, Megatron turned around and began walking the way that they were first heading.

Raf's legs remained dangling in the warlord's fist.

* * *

Megatron walked briskly in the hallways, but his processor was elsewhere.

He had finally realized why he had felt that fear earlier, for he felt that same illogical fear when he had questioned Rafael. He mentally scolded himself for not realizing it the first time why it felt like he had a bond.

It was because he _did_ have a bond with someone, or at least a bond through the dark energon which ran through both of their veins. He knew that there was more than just telepathy that had to be shared between him and the human child, but an empath connection was not what he expected, nor wanted. For the youngling to be able to feel Megatron's emotions was bothersome and would prove to become a weakness, as in return, the warlord could feel Rafael's.

And not just emotions, but pain as well.

But then why was this ability revealing itself only now? What had changed to warrant such a thing?

For a reason unknown to Megatron, he did not think he would ever find out.

* * *

Later that night, the Decepticon warship had flown back above the clouds, the moon shining down on its features and making it look eerie and mysterious in the silver light.

Inside, most of the _Nemesis_ was quiet, as the majority of the crew was in deep recharge, worn out from the day's events. Even the officers themselves were resting. All but one officer, that was. Inside the control room, the silent Third in Command, Soundwave, stood alone at the terminals at the end of the catwalk. His usual position. The mech did not sleep often, against Laserbeak's and Ravage's wishes, who currently stood vigil with him.

Laserbeak was perched at the top of the terminal screen while the feline-like symbiote, Ravage, laid at Soundwave's pedes, curled up in a light stasis nap, his awareness obvious by the occasional flickering of his audial receptors. Ravage was not deployed often, as his permanent injuries from a battle long ago had left him disabled of extensive movement. So now, the cat instead remained mostly in Soundwave's personal quarters, only coming out at times like these, where the ship was mostly in recharge and so few vehicons were in the room. Said vehicons had actually grown used to Soundwave's symbiotes roaming around freely, as the drones were charged specifically for the night shift and thus spent most of their time in the mini-cons' presence. The symbiotes too had grown used to the vehicons there, and if they met in the hallways randomly, could easily recognize them.

Thoughts of the vehicons and his symbiotes were not what was on Soundwave's processor, however. Rather, they were on the sole human child who resided in the warship. Despite Megatron never giving the order, the TIC still kept a constant watch on the boy. Even if not directly monitoring him in a video feed in the corner of his visor, Soundwave had set up commands to alert him should the human's heat signature move too far from his fixed point. So, when Knockout left the medbay, it wasn't long after when Soundwave received an alert of the boy's change in location. The silent mech simultaneously kept one optic on his surroundings and one optic on the camera feed of the medbay.

At the time, Soundwave merely watched the little organic for a bit, to make sure he wasn't doing anything threatening before he focused his full attention on Megatron and the meeting.

Now here he wasーthe danger of the warship now passedーreviewing the footage from earlier that day with keen interest as he watched the boy jump from the medical berth to the terminal and climb to the top. Then the organic began jumping on the keys and managed to pull up schematics of the ship's damage.

 _Curious._ Soundwave was certain that the organic didn't know any cybertronian. Even if the Autobots had managed to teach the boy _their_ codes, they could not teach him the Decepticon's dialect. Another problem was that the warship's damage reports and, more importantly, the camera feeds were not easily accessible. While every terminal on the vessel had the ability to access the ship's damage, a mech could only reach the cameras by entering a code that only Soundwave and Megatron knew. So then how was the little organic able to access the ship's system reports _and_ the camera feeds?

He only paused for a moment before he came to an answer, one that amazed and impressed the ex-gladiator.

The boy had imputed the exact same keys that Soundwave did earlier, just by witnessing and memorizing the pattern.

Most impressive. Soundwave knew that the boy was smart, not just because he had fought for control over the satellites with said boy, but because he researched every single one of the human children in thorough detail. He had discovered that the boy had a high IQ for his age, allowing him to move up in his schooling by two years ahead of his peers. Of course, this led him to be an outlier among his fellow teenagers, with reports of him going to the school's medical center being somewhat common.

Organics were strange in this way, where the smart often hid their intellect or kept it restrained in order to not be outcasted by others. Back on Cybertron, if one was smart and skilled enough, they often could find a loophole in the Caste System and exploit it. Sometimes, mecha would even catch the attention of higher-ups who would hire them, thus moving up that way instead. Either way, to be intelligent meant that you had a much higher chance of gaining a better life than others. In Soundwave's opinion, such resourcefulness was to be commended.

The mech ceased his typing at the computer console, running into yet another complexity in the decoding of the database.

What should he do about the child? It was his duty to report the boy's actions to Megatron, but how should he present the information? The mech mused thoughtfully in the silence, his processor recalling when Megatron consulted in his the plans for turning the boy to their cause. The warlord had already begun to sway the child by telling him of their history, that much was evident by the boy's reluctance to return to the Autobots despite the many given opportunities.

The human youngling, Rafael Jorge Gonzalez "Raf" Esquivel, was an intelligent child, one who had proven to crave knowledge of any kind. So, perhaps they should use that aspect of his nature to sway him even further, using more than just historical facts. Perhaps even have the child aid Soundwave in his decoding of the Iacon database, wishful thinking though that was. However, it would certainly put Rafael to greater use than just sitting around in the medical center, tending to minor vehicon injuries.

Of course, there also came a disadvantage with teaching the child the Decepticon dialect, as he could use the information against them in the future, but Soundwave was not Megatron's Communications Officer and top spy for nothing. The silent mech knew his way around mecha's processors, knew how to persuade them, make them think a certain way. If the child would not become fully Decepticon, then Soundwave was confident that Rafael would at least become neutral and not as inclined to betray either faction.

Yes, the Third in Command most definitely had a plan. Now he just needed to convince Megatron of its benefits.

* * *

 **(A/N)**

 **Ravage is a character, yay! In this story, I'll be going with what he looks like in the Aligned Continuity, which is technically his canon-look. In other words, the Ravage I'm using for visual reference is WFC Ravage. It's the purple one with the blasters on his hind legs and the Decepticon insignia on his shoulders.**

 **And come on, I bet that at least a few of you were hoping for some Soundwave-Raf mentoring.**

 **No?**

 **... Well okay then.**

 **Regardless, Soundwave seems to have some ideas of how to coax Raf to their side, but will his plans be carried out? And just how far might they go?**

 **Thanks again so much for reading and reviewing everyone and stay tuned for next chapter ;)**


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